Twisted Tales
by Sailor Silver Ladybug
Summary: This is a series of requested stories that are MA. They do not fall into my normal categories of One-Shots. They include gender-bender stories, where Usagi is male and Mamoru is female, or twists in the story where Usagi meets herself in male form. I think I've done them justice. Please read and review. (Formerly listed under M-Requests)
1. Contents

All stories in this category are requested stories that don't fall into my normal writing guidelines. They can be gender swap stories, dream sequences, au's, or so many others. All other stories that are requested have been (or soon will be) moved into my Consequences series of One-Shots.

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**Twisted Tales**  
(_Formerly M-Requests_)

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**A Little Twist of Fate** \- Request from ObeliskX.  
AU Genderbender... where Usagi is a boy and Mamoru a girl. How might they learn about each other? Would anything be the same? Mild language an thoughts.

**Ribbons and Twists** \- Request from ObeliskX.  
A ribbon scene with a genderbend twist. Mamoru is a girl (17) and Usagi is a boy (14). One day, as he is getting to leave, his transformation goes wrong, with enjoyable results.

**Usagi Meet Usagi** \- Request from ObeliskX.  
In a strange dream state, two Usagi's from alternate dimensions meet. Thinking it is a Negaverse trap, they fight, resulting in some unintended consequences, which they explore further.

**Lessons Learned: A Halloween Adventure** \- Request from C107galaxytachyon.  
First Season story. Usagi and Mamoru really don't understand one another. Then, during a trip to a Halloween festival, in the Mirror Maze, the two are approached by a strange man. Strange events tumble over one another as the two are forced to walk a mile in the other's shoes, quite literally.

**Dark Crystal Hospital** \- Request from Roza Dragomir Belikova  
When Chiba Mamoru is told Tsukino Usagi has stolen money from the hospital, he comes up with a plan that changes both of their lives forever. An AU story (no Senshi) with dramatic highs and lows, this particular tale tells of what can happen when you don't trust the one you're with, and when you finally see the truth.


	2. A Little Twist of Fate

**Request:** ObeliskX

**Author's Notes:** This is a gender-bender story. Mamoru is a female, Usagi is a male.

**Updated Note:** This story has been edited! It should all be in third person now. I didn't realize how messed up it was! Sorry about that. If you see any places where I missed it, please let me know. Ages have been changed for this story (Usagi 16 - Mamoru 18).

**Warning:** Crude language and scenes not fit for young readers.

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**A Little Twist of Fate**  
**A Twisted Tales Story**

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Part One

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***Mamoru's POV***

Chiba Mamoru was not an ordinary girl with a crush on an ordinary boy. Oh no, she had to like that smiling, happy, always laughing Tsukino Usagi with his golden hair and laughing blue eyes. She was too dark for him... In looks and personality. She knew she would never make someone like him happy. But it didn't stop her from liking him, or, occasionally, sneaking a grab of his cute little bum when she rescued him... again!

He didn't know she was Tuxedo Kamen, but she knew who he was. She couldn't help keeping the secret. Would he still have a crush on Tuxedo Kamen if he knew it was her? By all the Kami, he was making her crazy! She wasn't very fond of the boy when they first met. His tossing test papers and hitting innocent people in the face! And how was it that every single day he managed to crash into her? Maybe he was doing it on purpose.

Every day, as she walked to school, she pondered the realities of crushing on a younger boy. With his gorgeous eyes and good looks. They'd be calling her a cradle robber! She was eighteen for crying out loud. He was only sixteen. This would never work! He was making her miserable! And because he made her so miserable she had to spread the wealth... So she teased him.

As Usagi it was easy... bad grades, clumsy feet, impish personality, and that hair! She always called him Bed-Head, though she secretly liked it. And she would literally kick his ass if he ever found out! And his name! "And who names their _son_ Bunny anyway?" She muttered. At least her name was cool. Her name meant protector of Earth. His meant Moon Rabbit, which was a nice story and all... but seriously.

As Sailor Moon, she only teased him about his clothes... his skimpy little Sailor Suit with boy shorts that hugged his butt and a large V down the front so she could see his chest... those muscles! Why the hell did he have to make her like him so much? She just had to make the occasional joke. It must be required in the hero handbook, right?

"Maybe it's mind control," she muttered furiously. She just needed to make sure he was okay. Every time he became Sailor Moon and was afraid... really afraid, she had to make her way to him. Every time! So here she was, sitting on the branch of a stupid tree, in the middle of the stupid park, at the ungodly hour of two in the morning, watching him and his fellow Senshi as they fought a Youma that seemed to have been created from a television set. Who thought up this crap?

The thing was sending out static. Like old TV static, and also zapping them with shorted wires. If she hadn't been so worried about Sailor Moon she might have laughed. She stood, and leaned forward on the balls of her feet as he moved towards the thing. And, yup, like clockwork, the cord was coming up behind him.  
She lunched herself, simultaneously throwing a rose at the screen, and as she rolled with Moon Boy, she heard the satisfying crack of the glass.

"Thanks Tuxedo Kamen!" The boy chirped, much too happy for having just been saved by a girl, and rolling several times over rocks, dirt, and grass."

"Throw your diadem Sailor Moon." Tuxedo Kamen tried to sound encouraging. Maybe he wouldn't realize who she was if she was nice when in the mask. She heard the crackling of electricity and didn't have time to dodge the wire as it hit her leg. She rolled away quickly but she could feel the electrical burn all the way down the inside of her thigh and around so that it wrapped the underside of her knee.

Great! Just frigging great!

She heard Sailor Moon give his loud yell, the diadem turned into a spinning wheel of death, and an instant later... dust. In her HAIR! She moved quickly, hopping into a tree so no one would see just how badly hurt she was. She waited for the Senshi to disperse, watching them congratulate Moon Boy on his great shot. Only Moon even bothered looking around for her.

"I think she was hurt," she heard him say.

"Must not be too bad, or she'd still be here." Mars sounded confident.

Soon the boys were gone and she slumped back against the trunk of the tree, letting her henshin go and becoming plain old Mamoru again.

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***Usagi's POV***

Usagi was worried. He didn't know if Tuxedo Kamen was okay. He'd gotten home the night before and couldn't even sleep because he just couldn't stop thinking about her. No doubt she was beautiful behind that mask of hers. He couldn't tell. He just knew she was always there to save him. He didn't know why either. But from day one, the masked hero had been protecting him and encouraging him. That first night he'd really thought about turning and running away. If it hadn't been for Naru being in danger, he might have disgraced himself.

When Mars was an ass to him, Tuxedo Kamen was always there, reminding the kid who did the actual slaying of Youma. When he was feeling down about missing a shot, she always had some sort of encouragement or advice. She was nice. And oh my god was she beautiful. He didn't understand the whole girl in a Tux thing, but it hugged her butt and was trim around her *blush* chest. He couldn't help sometimes hoping she had to save him just so he could feel her pressed up against him. It was... nice. It made him feel funny sometimes.

The only other girl he'd ever liked hated him. And that sucked. She was eighteen, and in high school. And super smart and always got good grades and did her homework. Somehow he kept making her mad. So she would say mean things, and then he would say mean things back, and it was just so frustrating. He perked up. He was almost half way to school, which meant pretty soon he would be running face first into her chest. SCORE!

Unfortunately he didn't see her when he turned the corner. That was odd... he always ran into her. Even when he tried to avoid her. It was like she had built in Usagi radar. He looked down the road she always came from but no one was walking toward him. Huh! Where was she? He shrugged and was almost across the street when he heard the moan.

He followed the sound to a pair of metal trash bins and looked behind them. There, laying on the ground, was Chiba Mamoru. Wearing pajamas. Black pajamas. Black silk pajamas with little roses. Boy shorts and spaghetti-strap tank top. He saw it then, and crashed to his knees beside her. SHE WAS HURT!

"Mamoru?" He touched her shoulder. Such smooth skin. Crap. Pay attention boy.

"Mamoru!" A burn ran from the top of her thigh along the inside of that same thigh, and down around behind her knee in an angry curving red line, like a crescent moon. HE KNEW THAT BURN! "Oh kami! She's Tuxedo Kamen, the girl who hates me is Tuxedo friggin' Kamen, the one person who always makes me feel better."

His muttering grew more faint as he looked down at her injury. It looked bad, and maybe infected. He shook her shoulder, but she just moaned. So he sat her up, put an arm around her, and wrapped one of her arms around his shoulder. Her apartment building was only a block away, but he struggled even so. He had to carry her piggy-back, and carrying a passed out girl in pajamas that way, while simultaneously trying to jump from balcony to balcony (in broad daylight) and not get caught was no easy feat!

He finally got her inside and laid her on the couch. He was going to have to clean her wound. It had obviously healed some, but it was infected. It was nine blocks to the park! Why hadn't she asked for help? 'Duh, cause she didn't know it was you doofus!,' he thought.

Usagi searched for the first aid kit, and found a huge bin under the bathroom sink. She got hurt a lot more than she let on apparently. He brought the whole thing out to the living room with him. He opened it and found everything sorted and neatly labeled. There was a kit marked "Burns" with numbers on the outside of each piece. So he followed the steps.

One. Clean the wound with the special cloth that wouldn't tear the skin, and gentle saline solution... cause alcohol would SUCK! He tried to be careful, but she moaned every time he had to take dust or small pebbles out of the wound.

Two. Rub healing ointment into burn. 'Don't think about where your hand is or she'll punch your lights out!,' he reminded himself.

Three. Wrap gauze over wound. It was difficult to wrap a wound like that... He ended up cutting the gauze into small strips and then taping them to her skin.

Four. Administer pain reliever. Usagi woke her up enough to take it with a sip of water, and she collapse back down instantly.

He added a step. Five. Give beautiful sleeping patient a tender kiss on the forehead.

He left the burn kit on the coffee table but put everything else away. Unsure what else to do, he decided to make her some soup. It's what his mom always made him when he was sick or hurt. He only found tomato soup but it would have to do. He heated it carefully on the stove, not daring to look away for a single second... he wasn't exactly known for his cooking skills. Once it was ready he double checked the stove was off several times, and poured the soup into two bowls, putting one in the microwave for now.

He went back to the living room and set the bowl on the coffee table, then picked her up, bridal style this time, and moved her into the recliner, pulling the lever so that her legs could rest on the foot portion. He gently shook her shoulder until she woke up and offered her the soup.

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***Mamoru's POV***

Mamoru woke up with absolutely no clue how she got home. Bunny Boy was standing in front of her with a small smile and a bowl of soup. She smiled. Yes, actually smiled at Usagi. 'How's that for the end of the world?,' she wondered.

Usagi went back out and grabbed another bowl, then sat on the couch and started slurping at it. Normally Mamoru might have been really annoyed, but right then she could only focus on two things. One, she was in pain. Two, Usagi had somehow gotten her home, tended her wounds, and fed her without burning the apartment down.

She looked down. Oh crap... Three. She barely had any clothes on!

"I promise I won't tell anyone you're Tuxedo Kamen." Usagi said suddenly.

She looked over at him and he gave a tentative smile. "Thanks. How'd you know?"

"I saw you get hit. I knew you were hurt..." He trailed off. "Next time, ask for help."

This was a new side to Usagi. Firm, demanding, maybe even a bit confident. How was that possible? "Alright Moon Boy." Mamoru said, and suddenly she was laughing.

"Seriously!" he huffed. "Why do people keep calling me that?" But he was laughing too.

Mamoru finished her soup and Usagi took the bowl. She leaned her head back and closed her eyes for a second. Then she could feel him standing there and opened her eyes, catching him staring at her breasts with his face looking rather like a tomato. Boys! Mamoru noticed he wasn't exactly comfortable in the pants, and couldn't help but wonder what he was thinking.

"Oy! I'm up here!" The look on his face was priceless! Absolutely epic! Mamoru laughed some more, and it feel so good to laugh that it burbled out of her uncontrollably until he was laughing with her.

When their mirth had died down, she looked up into his face, still a bit red, as he explained. "I let you sleep for a while. But you missed school. I did too, but I don't get perfect grades like you." He smiled, a little bashfully. "I um, I need to check the burn if that's okay."

Mamoru nodded, unsure what to say. 'Poor kid is probably thinking I'll punch him for touching me or something,' she thought. With a sigh, she smiled up at him. "Hey," she said quietly, "truce?"

* * *

Part Two

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***Usagi's POV***

It had been almost a month since Tsukino Usagi had discovered his masked hero Tuxedo Kamen was in fact the girl who hated him, Chiba Mamoru. Mamoru had always teased him about grades and his clumsiness, and everything she could think of, while gently encouraging him as Tuxedo Kamen. But things were different.

Now, as she sat next to him, he wondered what she was thinking. Did she like him as much as he liked her. Did he know how much he liked her? Now that she was his English tutor he spent two hours, three afternoons a week, with her. Sometimes they sat in the acrade, but she complained he was too easily distracted. So they mostly studied her in her apartment, where she would sit close to him on the couch, and walk him through each step.

She distracted him more than the arcade. In spite of the fact that she was older, he was in a growth spurt and was suddenly taller than she was, by almost four inches. He hadn't even noticed it until a few days ago. It made him feel less like a little kid around her now.

She smelled wonderful. Like roses and skin... and girl parts. He didn't know what to call that smell. But he knew what it was. She WAS attracted to him. Girl parts only ever started smelling so good and strong like that if they wanted the boy they were with. She was wearing her school uniform, and he knew she hated it, but he was so grateful she had to wear a skirt because he could SMELL her. His nostrils flared.

He wanted to reach out and rub her thigh, maybe kiss her a little, and then put himself in her. He grew uncomfortably hard at the thought. Then he panicked. What if she noticed he was... horny... and called him a hentai? What if she did want him and he couldn't figure out what to do?

'Maybe I should check out a book...,' he mused.

Mamoru was sitting kind of stiff, like maybe she was uncomfortable. Then she turned and looked at him. "See something you like?"

Uh oh, she sounded angry. He stood as fast as he could, snatched his bag and headed for the door. He tore out of her apartment so fast he thought he might have left smoke trails on her floors. He hadn't even remembered his shoes!

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***Mamoru's POV***

'Damn! Damn! Damn! Damn!' She hadn't meant to scare him so bad. 'Shit!' She noticed his shoes were still by the door. Grabbing them, she ran after him. The boy was fast, she'd give him that much... but she was faster. She caught up to him and hollered his name, out of breath and panting. He looked over his shoulder, squeaked (A BOY SQUEAKED!?) and immediately henshined into Sailor Moon.

How did she get herself into this mess? Oh, yeah, by liking a boy so much younger than her. She wondered if older guys had the same problem with younger girls. She quickly transformed and ran after him. He darted into the park and made for the pond. She hollered for him to stop... again, but he just kept running.

He tore off into the woods and now she was in her element. while he faltered and stumbled on the ground, she nimbly moved from branch to branch, catching up quickly, and with a dive as though rescuing him from a Youma, she launched herself at him, knocking him to the ground, with his stupid shoes hitting them both over the head a few times as they rolled. She landed on top this time, her breasts pressed against his face as she gasped for breath. She realized he was struggling and trying to talk and lifted up so he didn't suffocate.

"I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I didn't mean to be a hentai. I'm sorry! Don't kill me! I'm-"

Seriously, he would have just kept talking if she HADN'T covered his mouth with her hand, right? "You forgot your shoes." She said finally, sitting back so that she was over his hips. "Did you really think I was going to kill you?"

He nodded his head frantically.

"Why?" She uncovered his mouth.

"Because I can't stop thinking about doing things with you." He said in a quiet voice, blushing. If she hadn't been sitting on him, and his dick hadn't started growing and twitching under her, she might not have understood.

"Go on.. What kind of stuff," she was enjoying his discomfort now.

"Naked stuff." He mumbled miserably.

"Exactly what kind of naked stuff?" She asked, shifting her hips so that her pussy was right over his cock, and rubbed up and down over it. He groaned, and she smiled.

"Lots."

"Details..." She grinned at him. "What would you do if we were naked right now?"

He blushed tomato red. "Put it in." He whispered.

"Put what in where."

"My thing in your girl part."

"You have a dick, or cock, and I have a pussy." She smiled when he twitched frantically under her crotch. She was REALLY enjoying this. "Try again."

"I'd put my... cock in your... pussy."

"And... go on."

"I'd um move... and maybe touch your um, your chest." His hips were moving up and down almost frantically under her. This was turning him on too!

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***Usagi's POV***

He couldn't control himself anymore. His hips were moving up and down as she moved forward and back over him. Over his... cock. Oh, he liked that word. He wanted her so bad right now, he just wanted to tear off her clothes.

Very slowly he moved his hands up along her sides and up to the swell of her breasts. That was another word he really liked. Even through the tuxedo she felt good in his hands. He rubbed over her, barely able to feel the hardened points on her breasts. He could smell her again, much stronger now.

Her hands went to the buttons on her tuxedo jacket, and she toyed with them. "Unbutton me." She ordered. He pulled at the buttons, but his fingers were shaking so much he couldn't undo them, so he tore the jacket open, buttons flying.

"Ohh, even better," she said, moaning. "Now the shirt." He obeyed, ripping it open in one hard tug. She reached behind her and undid her bra, and without having to be told what to do, as soon as he saw her nipples he pounced. He pulled her forward over him and took one in his mouth. His... cock... was throbbing now, hurting because it was so hard.

She pulled out of his mouth with a plop, "Stay very still," she warned. A rose, with razor sharp stem, appeared in her hand. She moved back so she was straddling his lower thighs, and carefully cut a hole around his... cock in his shorts, then pulled him out. Then she cut into her pants and ripped them open so she didn't have to stand.

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***Mamoru's POV***

This wasn't really the time for foreplay. If she let herself, or him, think too much, one of them might back out, and Mamoru was done rubbing herself alone at night in bed. She'd wanted him for too long to deny herself anymore. She moved back up to where his overly thick cock stood ready. She'd watched her fair share of hentai, and a few actual pornos and he looked much bigger than expected. She knew it would hurt, this time at least, but she fully intended to get used to his length and girth.

Mamoru straddled him. "Rub the tip against my pussy." He obeyed quite happily. Finally, she was ready, and slowly lowered, a bit at a time. "Hold still for a minute."

It took what felt like years until he was deep enough to reach her hymen. She pulled back up, then moved down a few times, getting both of them good and slick. Then she sat down hard. "Ow!" She couldn't help it. "That hurt more than I thought it would," she explained. She panted through the pain, holding very still until it stopped hurting. His dick was twitching inside her, and that felt good. She lifted herself up a little, pushed back down. _Very_ good.

His hips were moving faster underneath her and he grunted every time they slammed together. She couldn't help it, she started letting out very feminine moans. So not like her. But it felt good. So good. She grabbed his hands, putting them back on her breasts, and squeezed his thumb and forefingers over her nipples, a little harder then she had intended, but oh it was wonderful! His skin was rough and she liked it.

He was moving faster, slamming deep and it almost hurt, but it was incredible. She met him halfway each time, and then he let go of her nipples and grabbed her hips tight, so tight, and the motions got faster and harder and she felt the orgasm building inside her, better than she could ever do with her hands, and she was crying out and he was grunting as he slammed deep, holding still for a second, deep inside, every time their bodies met.

And then she felt like she was flying as her muscles clenched tight around him, and she didn't even notice when she let out a scream of pleasure as his body twitched and he spilled deep inside her, holding her hard against him as he released jet after jet, his cock throbbing against her cervix. She collapsed on top of him, her head on his shoulder, her breasts, nipples raw, against his tight chest.

She had never felt so good in her life. If she died in that moment it would be fine with her. She couldn't even move she just felt so blissfully sleepy. And then it happened...

Less than two minutes after they had come down from the most incredible shared orgasm, she felt it, his cock stiffening inside her, his hips moving, just a little, while she still clenched and unclenched in the lingering reaction to orgasm.

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***Usagi's POV***

Now that he had her, he couldn't stop. What if this never happened again? He needed more. 'I'm a greedy young man, I'll admit it,' he thought. But she felt so good! He'd never felt anything like this. His hand wasn't this hot and wet and tight. She moaned when he started moving again, but this time, it would be his way.

He rolled them over, careful not to fall out of her, and slammed home again. She cried out, grabbing his shoulders tight as he pulled back and rammed her hard. Oh kami that was wonderful. He needed it so bad, needed to be in her, needed to fill her again and again. 'If she let me, I'd be her boyfriend,' he thought in wonder.

"Fuck me," she groaned.

He'd never heard her say anything dirty like that before. It made him even harder. So he tried talking that way to her, whispering in her ear.  
"Do you like it? Do you like my cock inside you?"

"Yes," she pleaded, "more!"

"More what?" he growled.

"More talk, more hard." she could barely speak, but he understood.

"You like this then, being... fucked?" Her moan was all he needed for encouragement. He slammed into her again and again. And tried his hand at talking dirty, the few rare pornos he'd watched coming to mind.

"You like being taken like this, don't you? Hard and rough, and outside where anyone could see us..."

That did it. She went into the hottest orgasm ever, crying out his name quietly, saying please over and over as she came. He growled again and she shivered.

"You want it don't you? You want someone to watch us." He was almost horrified by the words coming out of his own mouth. Where had that come from? But she moaned even louder. "You want me to keep fucking you, don't you?" He was getting close to the edge. All he could picture was when he finally pulled out of her, watching streams of cum falling out and down to the ground in a puddle.

"Please..." And she came again. Usagi lost himself a second later, his cock having a mind of it's own now, slamming deep repeatedly until he held her hips, planted himself, and blew several loads inside her. When he had finished he fell over her, exhausted. But he had to see. Slowly he sat back and pulled out, spreading her legs wider, opening her pussy with his fingers, and watched his cum flow out of her. There was blood in it, and on his thing.

* * *

***Mamoru's POV***

"New rule," said Mamoru after they had released their henshin and were back in civilian clothing. "You show up straight to my house every day to study. I fully intend to make use of you, and we both have so much to learn."

Usagi was quiet for a few minutes, and she wondered what was wrong. She poked him in the shoulder, but he didn't look at her. Finally she turned him physically and made him look. His eyes were red-rimmed and she realized he'd been crying.

"What's wrong? Didn't you like it?" He nodded, miserably. "Then what's wrong?"

"I hurt you..." he mumbled.

"When?" She was confused.

"I... I... I made you... bleed. I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to." He threw his arms around her and hugged her so tight she could barely breathe. And then she understood. She pushed him back a little and took his face in her hands.

"Usagi..." she murmured, thinking he was a little adorable. "Usagi, all girls bleed their first time. Don't you remember when I said ouch. I had to tear through my hymen, and it bleeds a bit. That's all. It only happens the first time a girl has sex."

He brightened almost instantly. "Truth?" He asked.

"Truth," she assured.

"So then... If I was to sneak over to your apartment with you after a nice Youma fight, and we did... that again, you wouldn't bleed inside?"

"No... well, unless my period was starting, but in that case you wouldn't get near me. That's gross."

He swiped the back of his hand on his nose and grinned at her. "But the rest of the time?"

"Yup." She smiled at him.

"CRAP!" He said suddenly.

"What's wrong now?"

"We didn't use a condom."

She smiled again. "I'm on the pill."

"Oh thank Kami," he laughed again. Then tried his hand at leering. "So... wanna do it again?"

"Race you to my place!" She yelled as she took off running.

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Previous Comments

* * *

Jen chapter 2 . Nov 6  
Good chapter

Jen chapter 1 . Nov 6  
Good chapter although it's kinda confusing with d gender switch

James Birdsong chapter 2 . Aug 30  
Awesome

Guest chapter 1 . Aug 27  
I don't get why change genders

Guest chapter 5 . Nov 10, 2018  
Oh my god the end was so cuuuuute

Jen chapter 5 . Nov 11, 2018  
This is great! It's easier to read the one shots since they're all together, more organized.


	3. Ribbons and Twists

**Request from:** ObeliskX

**Author's Note:** This was my first gender-bender, and it was a bit difficult to write.

**Updated Note:** A few edits were done, but the story remains the same. (Usagi 16- Mamoru 18)

**Warning:** I guess this falls under dubious consent because of the ribbons, but in my view they are both completely willing. Not suitable for young readers.

* * *

**Ribbons and Twists**  
**A Twisted Tales Story**

* * *

Mamoru was pretty sure she was going insane. She rubbed her eyes fiercely as she looked into the living room again. Hmm... Nope, unless she really was seeing things, something had gone wrong when Usagi went to transform. And what a pretty picture he made too. She absolutely couldn't look away. He'd come over to study, which unfortunately, was all she was prepared for as he was two years her junior. But this... there was no way.

Usagi, his hands wrapped in one ribbon and stretched somehow so that he was lying over the coffee table, with his legs spread, was wrapped in the transformation ribbons of his Sailor Suit. She'd heard the strangled cry of shock and annoyance. But this was priceless. She quickly walked into the room and stood over him.

"Trouble?" she asked, perhaps with a bit too much breathiness over her snarky attitude. She really wanted to play. One of the ribbons was moving wildly over his lower half, rubbing against his cock. He was lifting his hips and moaning, trying to get the thing to actually do something more than tease. Oh this was going to be good!

"No. Love being trapped by my own ribbons," he said with too much desire to really fake the annoyance he was trying to portray. "Wanna get me out of here?"  
"Sure... once I've had a few minutes to enjoy the view. I mean, here you are all laid out before me like an offering to a heathen god. Who wouldn't want to enjoy that?" She sneered at him, hoping he didn't realize she wanted to do more than just tease.

"Cut me loose." He demanded, and then several ribbons covered his mouth.

"Nope!" She laughed, and knelt down to play. She was to his right side, and she began by trailing her fingers up and down his stomach and chest. His skin was soft, but his body was hard, and hot. She ached to crawl on top of him and fill herself with his cock.

She trailed her fingers back down his chest to his belly, and then slipped them along his hard length, the ribbons parting for her fingers. She wrapped her hand around him, squeezed gently, and lifted lightly up and down over the smooth hard rod. He groaned and begged for more pressure, but she kept her touch light. Her juices started to flow and her nipples hardened. It was going to be hard to stop this time. They'd played a bit in the past few weeks, but only over clothes. She really wished he was a few years older.

She slipped her other hand around and began teasing his balls, running her fingernails in a barely there touch. He arched his back, trying to get closer, and muttered under his breath. She loved it, loved the feeling of watching him squirm. If only she weren't squirming too.

She moved, between his legs now, and examined him as she played. His balls were tight, his cock jumping like mad. She bent her head down and kissed his pulsing head, then gave it one little lick before standing.

"Please, don't stop."

"But I was going to cut you loose," she teased.

"I don't think I can wait another second."

She'd turned away to go find a pair of scissors when it happened. The ribbons attacked her pajamas, tearing off the spaghetti top and boy shorts. More wrapped around her waist, her chest, her thighs, and she was lifted bodily over him, and lowered, gently but firmly onto his shaft until the hymen was breached, with only a tiny pain, and his cock slid home deep inside her. Her wrists were pulled into the air, high about her head, and he was lifted so that he was sitting up, with her still impaled on his shaft.

His hands came up to meet her breasts, lifting them to take each nipple into his mouth. A ribbon snaked between them and rubbed at her clit in fast, hard motions. The ribbons holding her thighs and belly lifted her about half-way off him and then dropped her suddenly back down. She screamed in pleasure, and he groaned in ecstasy. She was lifted again, and dropped.

The ribbons worked her hard, then his hands came to her hips, and he took her hard and fast, slamming into her again and again. They both groaned every time he slammed home. The ribbons at her clit worked harder, and another had been added to play with her nipples because his head was thrown back as he rammed her, his club thickening with impending release. He hammered up against her cervix and she screamed as she orgasmed around him.

As soon as she lost control and her pussy spasmed around him, he felt his own release and shot heavy loads of thick white come into her. He exploded and fell back into the ribbons, letting them carry his weight. Nothing in his life had ever felt so good.

Mamoru couldn't think. She could only feel as the ribbons continued their play, twisting and turning them in the air. Somehow she was on the table, and he kneeling, her rear end nearly off the table as his cock, slightly flaccid now, finished releasing inside her. She'd given herself orgasms before, with her fingers, playing with her clit while thinking of him, but it was an entirely new experience to be so full when it happened.

She realized after a moment that he was thickening inside her as the ribbons continued to play with both of them. He pulled back a few inches, and slammed forward, then again and again, his thumb pulled to her clit and rubbed in the circular motion she always used when she wanted to build herself up. His hips moved faster, until each time their bodies collided it almost hurt. But it felt so good. The ribbons moved his thumb, changing his angle and pressure, and turned it so he was rubbing up and down right over it instead of around.

She started to scream now, each time their hips locked, and every time he pulled out she whined. She needed him inside, more than she'd ever needed anything before. It was painful, the walls of her vagina sore and sensitive. But she needed more, harder and faster. And he gave. His pace increased until she was bucking her hips wildly underneath him, crying out his name in a panting whine.

"Fuck me, fuck me, fuck me, fuckmefucmefuckmefuckme!" And each slam was perfect, her clit stimulated until every muscle in her body clenched and she lost herself as the orgasm ripped her from consciousness for a moment as he emptied inside her again.

When she became aware again he was laying over her, panting heavily. The ribbons had stopped and they were free, but she didn't want to be. She wanted to be trapped, with him inside her, for the rest of her life.

"Are you too sore for more?" Usagi asked her quietly. "Because if you aren't I'm going to be carrying you to the bedroom and spending the night making sure you are."

Mamoru smiled up at him and lifted his hand to her breast. "I think I've got another round or ten in me. After all, we are superheroes!"

* * *

**Original Comments**

* * *

Jen chapter 1 . Nov 5  
Nice!

Guest chapter 1 . Aug 27  
Okay story and fun interactions, but I think it would be better if they were the right genders. The change makes it confusing.


	4. Usagi Meet Usagi

**Request from:** ObeliskX.

**Author's Notes:** I struggled writing this one. It took me weeks and I suffered a bit of writers block on it. I even wondered if I could write it at all, and I really hope I did it justice.

**Updated Notes:** Did a few edits for grammar and spelling. Nothing in the story has changed if you've read this before. (AGE IS 16)

**Warning:** Not intended for young readers.

* * *

**Usagi Meet Usagi  
A Twisted Tales Story  
**

* * *

***Usagi's POV***

* * *

Tsukino Usagi sat quietly on the bench. Her long blonde hair, caught up in two small buns on either side of the crown of her head with rippling streams of the golden locks flowing down her back, was caught in a breeze, and a single thin strand came up to tease her cheek. The sun was setting and the moon rising in the sky. A huge yawn caught Usagi off guard. She was tired.

The day had been a long one. She'd been investigating a radio station with Luna most of the morning. It had been three days since the two of them had noticed the strange coma-like sleep that people had fallen into. And all of them had written to a radio show that, for all intents and purposes, did not exist.

Sitting next to her on the bench, Luna was busy muttering under her breath, as though arguing with herself about something, and Usagi wondered what it could possibly be. She hadn't spoken much since the two of them had been unceremoniously escorted off the radio station grounds. Usagi wondered what on earth her guardian was thinking, but didn't ask. She'd learned the hard way to leave her alone until she was ready.

Sitting quietly, Usagi's head began to nod.

Usagi found herself in darkness. She struggled to sit up, unsure what to make of her surroundings. There was a strange feeling on her skin, as though there was something slimy around her. It was a frightening feeling. She could sense the miasma of evil, and wasn't sure what to make of it. She'd only just begun to sense Youma, but this felt much more powerful than any she had encountered so far.

As she sat up, the darkness seemed to be relieved somewhat by a thin, hazy light, coming from everywhere and nowhere at once. She shook her head and looked around, seeing nothing around her. There were no walls, no floor, no sky or trees or anything. She was sitting on nothing, and looking at nothing.

She moved, putting her hands down on the nothingness in front of her so she could leverage herself into standing. She looked carefully around her, and in the distance she saw a figure doing the same. She took a step toward the figure, and saw the other person take a step toward her. The strange feeling of evil grew, and she wondered if it was from the other person in the darkness.

Each step was slow and careful, deliberate. She was tensed, ready for an attack. The other figure was moving towards her as well. She stopped, thinking carefully, and touched the brooch on her chest. She whispered her henshin phrase. "Moon Prism Power, Make Up." A bright light surrounded her, hiding her moment of nakedness as her clothing disappeared. An explosion of fuchsia ribbons escaped her brooch and spread out around her, bright and colorful, creating her white fuku and blue skirt. A choker, hair accessories, gloves, and boots appeared, adding to the new outfit. Earrings appeared in her ears, and she was slowly lowered back to the ground, her toes touching before her heels clicked on the invisible surface under her.

* * *

***Alternate Usagi's POV***

* * *

Tsukino Usagi sat quietly on the bench. His short blonde hair rippling in the sudden breeze. A single lock teased his forehead. The sun was setting, and the moon rising in the sky. A huge yawn caught Usagi off guard. He was tired.

The day had been a long one. He'd been investigating a radio station with Lunar most of the morning. It had been three days since the two of them had noticed the strange coma-like sleep that people had fallen into. And all of them had written to a radio show that, for all intents and purposes, did not exist.

Sitting next to him on the bench, Lunar was busy muttering under his breath, as though arguing with himself about something, and Usagi wondered what it could possibly be. He hadn't spoken much since the two of them had been unceremoniously escorted off the radio station grounds. Usagi wondered what on earth his guardian was thinking, but didn't ask. He'd learned the hard way to leave him alone until he was ready.

Sitting quietly, Usagi's head began to nod.

Usagi found himself in darkness. He struggled to sit up, unsure what to make of his surroundings. There was a strange feeling on his skin, as though there was something slimy around him. It was a frightening feeling. He could sense the miasma of evil, and wasn't sure what to make of it. He'd only just begun to sense Youma, but this felt much more powerful than any he had encountered so far.

As he sat up, the darkness seemed to be relieved somewhat by a thin, hazy light, coming from everywhere and nowhere at once. He shook his head and looked around, seeing nothing around him. There were no walls, no floor, no sky or trees or anything. He was sitting on nothing, and looking at nothing.

He moved, putting his hands down on the nothingness in front of him so he could leverage himself into standing. He looked carefully around himself, and in the distance he saw a figure doing the same. He took a step toward the figure, and saw the other person take a step toward him. The strange feeling of evil grew, and he wondered if it was from the other person in the darkness.

Each step was slow and careful, deliberate. He was tensed, ready for an attack. The other figure was moving towards him as well. He stopped, thinking carefully, and touched the pin on his chest. He whispered her henshin phrase. "Moon Prism Power, Make Up." A bright light surrounded him, hiding his moment of nakedness as his clothing disappeared. An explosion of baby blue ribbons escaped his pin and spread out around him, bright and colorful, creating a white top and blue shorts.

Fingerless gloves appeared on his arms, short boots on his feet, and a small crescent appeared on a silver belt around his waist before he was slowly lowered back to the ground, his toes touching before his heels clicked on the invisible surface under him.

* * *

***Author's POV***  
(AN: Sorry... but I have to do this a different way to get to the meat of the story)

* * *

The two moved closer and closer and, now transformed, each felt safer, until they got a good look at each other. They had missed each other's transformation in the glow of their own. Their movements almost appeared as mirror movements. As her right foot moved forward, so did his left. They both brushed hair off their foreheads and stared at each other. Both sensed an evil presence in the air.

"Who are you?" Both voices spoke at once, and seemed to echo in the vast emptiness. Both shrugged, then tried again. "Who are you and where am I?" Again the words came in unison.

Male Usagi lifted a hand, finally realizing something was off. Female Usagi watched him carefully. She was worried he would attack her. She carefully looked him over, unsure how to act.

"My name is Tsukino Usagi," said the boy, his voice patient and low.

Usagi the female shook her head angrily. "No, that's my name. I won't fall for some trick of the Negaverse. Who are you really?"

The boy sighed. "I'm telling you the truth," he insisted. "And how do I know you aren't some trick. Or a dream perhaps," he added in confusion.

Shaking her head, the girl frowned. "Maybe a dream, but I don't think so. It's evil here." She growled. "This is some trick! Where am I? What have you done to me? Are you one of those Negacreeps?" Her hand raised to the golden tiara on her forehead and she pulled it down.

"Don't threaten me," the boy warned, looking her over carefully as he lifted his hand, reaching for his own diadem. "I don't know who or what you are, but you are NOT Tsukino Usagi!"

"Liar!" She hissed. "I am Usagi, and Sailor Moon. I know I was just on a bench in the park with Luna. Wait! The park. Of course! You are some strange new Youma come to destroy me in my dreams. I must have fallen asleep. You wont get me Youma!" With one swift motion she charged her tiara. "Moon Tiara Action!" and threw it.

Unfortunately the boy, sensing her attack, and also thinking she was some trick, moved at the same time. "Moon Diadem Attack!" he cried and threw his as well. The two weapons met in midair, sparks flying out from them before they connected and grew into an expanding circle, trapping the two of them together.

Finding herself pressed against the chest of the male claiming her name, her feet several inches off the strange surface that had held her so recently was bad enough. But then she noticed his lips were pressed against hers, and neither of them could move away. They were trapped together. She struggled, her feet kicking wildly, but she was trapped around her upper arms, her breast pressed into his chest so hard they hurt.

She cried out, pulling her head back an inch in fear and pain, she thought briefly, then head-butted the boy. He slumped, and the two of them fell, rolling a bit so that he ended on his back with her on top of him.

Thinking carefully the male Usagi powered down his diadem. They were released and the girl collapsed heavily on him, her legs falling between his. She shot up, pulling her tiara off the surface beneath them. The surface that seemed to exist, and not exist at the same time. She backed away as he stood.

"What the hell was that?" She panted.

He shrugged, then grinned, remembering the feel of her. He couldn't help lowering his eyes slightly to check her breasts, but her bow hid them from view. He shrugged again, wishing there was a way he could see more of her.

"What the hell are you looking at Hentai!" She growled.

He gave her an insolent grin and she launched herself at him, hands going for his throat. He laughed and caught her wrists, not sure why she was so angry. This had to be a dream after all.

"I figure this is a dream, so I'm just going along with it." He laughed. "If it's a dream I can do whatever I want with no consequences."

She seemed to stop and think for a minute and then an evil grin crossed her face. Suddenly she pulled her wrists away and shoved him down, following after him. "Fine, if you're a hentai, and you're me, then maybe I'm a hentai too."

"So can I see them?" The male Usagi asked. "I want to know what I'd look like as a girl."

"Show me yours first," she said, looking down at the strange half shirt he wore. With a grin he tore it off and tossed it to the side. She was staring down at him, her head slightly tilted. "You look just like any other boy if I don't look at your face. Your chest is bigger than Mamoru's or Motoki's."

"Wait, you have a Mamoru and Motoki too?" asked the boy.

The female Usagi giggled. "Yup. Both cute, although Mamoru's mouth makes it hard to notice his looks."

"My Mamoru and Motoki are girls," the boy said, his voice awed. "This is the weirdest dream ever. So? Can I see them?"

The girl blushed, but figuring it was a dream, and reminding herself that he'd met his end of the bargain she gave him a stern look and made him close his eyes for a moment.

Once he wasn't looking she thought about how she wanted to do this. It would be easiest to just pull the front of the fuku down a little, but then she figured, she could see his whole chest and belly and it would only be fair to show him the same. She sighed and pulled the fuku away from one shoulder to slip her arm out, then did the same on the other side. She leaned forward and held her hands on his chest.

"You can open your eyes now," she whispered.

His eyes flew open and he stared at the little pink nipples on the large breasts hanging so close to his face. He wanted nothing more than to reach out and touch them. His mouth watered with the need to taste them.

"Can I?" he asked, but she sat back before he could lift his hands.

"Hmm," she said thoughtfully. "I'm pretty sure this is a dream, but if it isn't..." her voice trailed off. "No, it has to be a dream. There can't be a male me. Here's the deal Two. Where I touch, you can touch, and nowhere else! Got it?"

The boy nodded frantically, and then stopped, confused. "Two?"

The girl grinned. "Yup. I'm the real one, so I'm One, you're the dream so you're Two. Get it?"

He nodded, and lay there watching her. She didn't move, just stared down at him. "Are you going to touch me?" he asked, feeling a strange pressure to feel her hands on him. He was getting uncomfortably hard, and he wondered what that said about him, being attracted to her was like being attracted to himself, wasn't it?  
Finally she moved, touching his cheek lightly. He reached up and mirrored her movement. She traced his lips and he copied her. She moved on to his ear, then his neck, and finally slid one finger down the center of his chest. He echoed her movements in awe of her soft, extremely sensitive skin. As he moved between her breasts her little pink nipples puckered tightly and he inhaled a breath as he fought for control of his libido.

"More," he whispered, his voice pleading. "I want to feel more of you. Please?"

She grinned and moved both hands up his stomach and onto his chest, covering his nipples with her palms. He shuddered as he matched her movements. The little hardened peaks nearly making him lose it in his shorts. She traced her fingertips in circles around his nipples and he inhaled a sharp breath before copying her. His shaft throbbed painfully with need.

"I want you," he whispered. For a moment he thought she was going to pull away. She paused her movements and stared at him, her eyes wide. Then, after what seemed like an eternity, she grinned.

"Convince me," she challenged.

Unsure what she meant he hesitated, until she pulled on his hands and put them over her nipples. "You can't touch anything that isn't already exposed," she grinned at his frustration. "But if you can convince me, then I'll consider letting you go further."

He shuddered in need and moved his fingertips over her nipples, wondering what would please her best. He swiped the pads of his thumbs over the little peaks and she took in a breath, bucking a little over him. He decided to try something new and gently pinched the buds. She moved over him again, her hips moving her over his shaft. He could feel her damp heat and it nearly drove him over the edge.

Each time he pinched, her hips moved, and he grinned before lifting his head and, wrapping both hands around one breast, guided one nipple into his mouth. She let out a cry and he pulled away to look at her. She whimpered at the loss of his touch, so he covered her peak with his lips and licked the tip. One of his hands moved to the other breast and he began pinching her nipple rhythmically, while suckling her carefully. Her moans and cries drove him on, and he suckled harder before switching to the other breast.

The girl felt her mind drift as his mouth and hands worked magic over her. She'd never felt anything like it before. She couldn't stop the sounds she made, and considered giving in right away. She grinned and reached for his own nipples, finding them nearly as sensitive as her own as she gently pinched them. His hips bucked wildly under her and she could feel his hard cock rubbing back and forth across the heat of her slit.

"Please," he whimpered, pulling his mouth off her nipple for a moment. "Please?"

She pulled away from him and stood, looking down at him. With a grin she began to slide the fuku down off her hips. "Not yet," she whispered. "There are other ways to convince me," she added. She sat beside him and gently lowered herself to lay next to him. "I will let you have me, if you can give me my first orgasm. BUT!" she added as he turned and moved between her legs. "If you try anything, anything at all to get yourself off before I do, you get nothing."

She loved the sound of his pained groan. This was going to be fun. She wondered how much control he would let her have before he finally snapped. She couldn't wait to find out.

The boy couldn't figure where to start. Shrugging, he moved up her body and pressed his lips to hers. This time they were both actively participating and he found it wonderful. Her lips were soft, and tasted slightly of cherry. He ran his tongue along the bottom lip experimentally and she opened for him, catching his tongue as he slipped it inside her mouth. She suckled on it and he moaned, holding himself back from orgasm by sheer determination.

He pulled away and moved to her neck, suckling the skin there, then nipping a little. He couldn't deny he'd been watching porn for a few years, and he figured he had a good idea of what to do, even if he'd never actually done it. He moved down to her chest, smiling as he decided to give her a few little hickies on the globes to match the ones he had already added to her neck.

Once he was done marking her, he moved back to her nipples for a moment before he kissed his way down her belly. He wanted a good look. It would be his first glimpse at the female form. He wondered if this was a sort of masturbation, then threw the thought away as he caught sight of her. He backed away enough to get a good look, one hand trailing down to touch the incredibly smooth skin. She had a little blonde tuft of hair just over her mound, but the rest of her was gloriously exposed to his sight.

Using both hands he spread her open to inspect her. Glistening, moist, pink heaven awaited him. He wanted her even more having seen her so closely. He wanted to drive his cock into her again and again and lose himself in her. But he had to obey. He smiled. She wanted convincing? She would get it.

He closed his eyes, bringing up images from videos and magazines, recalling how the men in those videos had touched the women. He grinned and reached out, pressing one thumb over her clit. She moaned and her hips bucked as he pressed down harder. Her breath was coming in pants a moment later as his thumb moved back and forth quickly.

He wanted to give her an orgasm, but he also wanted to experience everything, so he moved his thumb away, enjoying her little whimper. She only _thought_ she had all the control. He spread her open again, then bent his head and licked the length of the slit, all the way to her clit.

"More," she whispered. He clamped his mouth over her clit in response. She screamed as he bit the tiny nub. "More," she said again. He grinned and bit harder before slipping a finger gently inside her. He almost lost it in that moment and reconsidered his position of power. No she definitely held all the cards. He redoubled his efforts on her clit and was forced to put a hand over her belly and hold her still so he could drive her to the orgasm she wanted.

When she began screaming and her depths clenched around his finger he moaned with need. She'd had her release, now he really wanted his. It took a long time for her to come down from wherever her brain went as her body shuddered, and he watched her carefully. He'd given himself plenty of orgasms in the past few years, and wanted to know what it felt like to orgasm inside another person.

"Are you ready for me?" he asked, panting a little in his need.

In answer the girl lifted her head and winked before shoving him off her and onto his back. She rolled over and grabbed his shorts, and in one swift motion bared him to her gaze.

"Do you want me?" she asked playfully.

"Yes," he groaned.

"How much?" she asked, trying to stifle a laugh.

"So much it hurts," he confessed with a groan.

"It hurts?" She gave him a concerned look. "Where?"

"My um... my balls," he admitted. She looked him over, spreading his legs a bit to get a good look, and then one finger came out and she traced the line down his sack. He groaned in sweet agony.

"My cock, the tip," he said, hoping to get a touch, perhaps even a kiss from her. He almost lost it when she bent forward and grabbed his shaft, lifting it up to her gaze. "Hurts," he moaned again.

She bent over and gently laid her lips on the tip. Then she grinned and suckled just the tip for a second. He fought for control, hoping he didn't embarrass himself by coming in her mouth. Then she was moving, straddling him. She was still holding him, and he moved to spread her open as she guided him inside. Just the tip slid into her before she stopped. He groaned.

"How bad do you want me?" She asked playfully, wanting him to lose control.

"More than I can say," he said, gritting his teeth.

"Beg me," she whispered, leaning forwards slightly.

"Please," he answered, also whispering.

"Please what?"

"Please fuck me!" he growled.

She moved slightly, lowing herself so that nearly two inches fit into her. Her insides wrapped him so tightly he thought he might go insane. He growled again when she stopped, and almost grabbed her hips to shove her down his shaft. He barely stopped himself in time, then moved his hands under his hips to try and control the temptation.

"I think this part is going to hurt me a little, so bear with me," she whispered. He could only nod, and focus on being absolutely still. He watched her face as she lifted nearly off him and then dropped all her weight so that she impaled herself on his shaft.

She let out a small cry of pain, her eyes scrunched tightly closed and her teeth dug into her bottom lip as she fought against the urge to cry. For several long minutes she sat completely still, until the pain began to fade and she grew accustomed to the feeling of him inside her.

He was going completely insane during that time. The feeling of her enveloping him, her heat, her wetness, the tightness, drove him nearly over the edge, and he felt a little spurt of pre-come erupt when she was fully seated on him. He clenched his teeth to control himself and waited.

Her movements were very slow and deliberate when the pain lessened. She wanted to feel the same intensity she had when she'd orgasmed. She pulled one of his hands from under him and moved it to her breast. Grabbing the other she urged him to touch her clit again. Still wanting to drive him to lose control, she barely moved as he pleasured her. Soon enough her inner walls were beginning to clench and her entire body felt like she'd touched a live wire.

It was in that moment his control slipped and she grinned as he roughly grabbed her hips and lifted her several inches before slamming her back over him. His hips raised to meet each downward thrust until their bodies made incredible slapping sounds as they met. He was groaning wildly and she felt him twitching inside her. She let control go and just allowed herself to feel.

It was wonderful. She could feel a third orgasm creeping over her as his thrusts became wild. Their bodies slammed together. He roared and she screamed as they came together, him filling her completely as she shuddered and clung around him. And then she had collapsed onto his chest and couldn't move for a long minute.  
He rolled her over and kissed her again.

She looked up at him and grinned, and then realized he was fading, becoming transparent. She reached out to hold onto him, only to realize her own hands were nearly invisible. The same shocked look appeared on his face, and both of them gasped as the world around them disappeared.

* * *

***Usagi's POV***

* * *

Usagi woke with a gasp. What on Earth just happened? Her mind was whirling with thoughts about the dream she'd woken from. She looked around. No time seemed to have passed. She was still sitting on the bench, Luna was still beside her, muttering, and the sun was still a hazy glow on the horizon, while the moon rose overhead.

Shaking her head she looked around, wondering if there really had been a Youma. She moved slowly to stand and felt a twinge of pain between her legs and a rush of warm fluid in her panties. A moment later Luna looked up as the girl began to scream and then fell over in a heap.

* * *

***Alternate Usagi's POV***

* * *

Usagi woke with a gasp. What on Earth just happened? His mind was whirling with thoughts about the dream he'd woken from. He looked around. No time seemed to have passed. He was still sitting on the bench, Lunar was still beside him, muttering, and the sun was still a hazy glow on the horizon, while the moon rose overhead.

Shaking his head he looked around, wondering if there really had been a Youma. He moved to stand and felt and uncomfortable stickiness on his member, the underwear rubbing against him in his raw state. A moment later Lunar looked up as the boy began to whoop happily and threw his fist in the air. "Cool!"

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Original Comments

* * *

Jen chapter 1 . Nov 5  
Very interesting and funny too

raderm3482 chapter 1 . Oct 23  
is there going to be another encounter/story with to usagi's? I would really love to more stories of them two from you:)

Guest chapter 1 . Oct 15  
I loved their different reactions to what happened

phillynz chapter 1 . Oct 15  
Interesting i liked it. Will there be more? Will the hickies be there lol.

Guest chapter 4 . Nov 10, 2018  
OMG this was soooo funny


	5. Lessons Learned: A Halloween Adventure

**Disclaimer:** *sigh* I don't *sigh* own it... More's the pity

**Original Author's Note:** This was a request from C107galaxytachyon. I decided to turn it into a Halloween story, and it will be my first holiday fanfiction. I really hope you enjoy it. Please review and tell me what you think. I, like many other authors, am motivated by my reviews. This is a reveal story, with a major twist, and I'd love to hear your ideas on it. What do you think you might do if you found yourself in this situation? I saw something similar on Charmed (another of my favorites) and when it was suggested I completely leaped at it.  
Halloween is celebrated in Japan, though it hasn't been for long, but it has become very popular. Also, most schools in Japan have six days of school, but for the purposes of this story I am using five.

**Updated Author's Note:** 1/26/20. Ages 16 and 18. I'm going through and changing this for all my stories that contain a lemon. There will probably be a few other changes as well.

* * *

**Lessons Learned**  
**Chapter One:**  
**Impressions**

* * *

It never failed to amuse Chiba Mamoru when he saw Usagi stuffing her face like a little chipmunk trying to store food for winter. Except, it seemed to him, she never stopped eating. She was, as usual, surrounded by her friends, sitting in one of the booths along the side of the arcade. The sunlight glinted off her long blonde hair as he watched her in the mirror behind the counter.

It was the reason he always chose this particular seat, and why no one else ever got to sit here at this time of the day. Motoki always saved it for him. It didn't hurt that Motoki suspected Mamoru might have a form of OCD. He wasn't about to disabuse him of that notion either. He wanted his way in this particular instance, though for the life of him he wasn't sure why he was so drawn to the bubbly blonde.

She had everything he ever wanted, and she wasn't even grateful for it. She had a bunch of close friends, and more importantly, a family. Was he jealous? Yeah, a bit. Did it have a little bit to do with why he teased her? Probably. She had no real responsibilities, other than school, and she was forever running late! Usually her lateness caused him pain, right in the chest, where her nose or chin always collided with him in her mad dashes to school.

The girl was a bit of a menace. She was horribly klutzy, often falling over her own feet, throwing shoes in her excitement, or tossing test papers into the faces of unsuspecting pedestrians. She was horrible in school, often getting poor marks, which she whined about at the top of her voice. A voice, he might add, that could bust a person's ear drums if they were too close. She was frustratingly lazy, often falling asleep at the counter or in the booth she and her friends always claimed. She would suddenly run off with those girls, not even noticing when people _worried_ about her sudden disappearances.

He looked up as Motoki came back to the counter, his cloth automatically coming out to wipe the already spotless surface. It seemed to Mamoru that perhaps it was a mechanism built in to get people to open up to him. Like a bartender, Motoki tended to help everyone with their problems. He always had a willing ear, an open mind, and non-judgmental advice. Not that Mamoru usually asked for any. He was more content to keep his few problems to himself.

He only had two, really. One was his obsession with the aforementioned blonde. He was getting a handle on it as best he could. He just had to keep insulting her and eventually she would completely avoid him. It had nothing to do with the adorable way her nose scrunched up and her bright blue eyes glowed with an inner fire. Not at all. Not a bit. He gulped at his coffee and forcefully turned his mind to his other problem.

Tuxedo Kamen. He had only recently become the masked hero. And already he had missed classes, forgotten homework, and been seriously injured a few times. Mostly in the process of saving the other blonde klutz in his life. Oh yeah, there were two of them. Well, if he was going to be completely honest, he had a third blonde to deal with, though she seemed more graceful. He wouldn't know though, as she never left that stupid balcony she called to him from in his dreams. She only wanted the Silver Crystal, so he could save her. How on earth was he supposed to save someone in a dream?

He sighed, looking up as he heard the loud obnoxious laughter of the Odangoed one. It was his name for Tsukino Usagi. He called her Odango Atama, and she called him Mamoru-baka. For some reason the name made him smile when he thought about it, though he'd never tell her as much.

"So," Mamoru looked up, a bit startled that he'd forgotten Motoki's presence. "I was wondering if you wanted to go to the Halloween festival with me." He continued to wipe the counter, but Mamoru was aware enough to know Motoki really did want him to go. Normally he would have said no, but since Reika had left for Africa he decided maybe his friend needed him. And Motoki was a friend, his only one, unless he counted the Odango. Which, in a weird way, he did.

"Sure, when is it?" Mamoru asked.

"I have this Friday and Saturday off. You?" Motoki looked excited.

"I have a study group Friday night, so I guess Saturday."

"Great." The blonde man was suddenly all smiles. "Meet me here at one?"

"Sure." Mamoru tried a smile and the other man grinned at him.

"Thanks Mamoru!"

Behind him there was an annoyingly loud beeping sound. He and Motoki both looked over to find the three girls jumping up to leave. Usagi with her blonde hair swaying from the buns as she gathered her things. Mizuno Ami, her bluenette friend quietly leaping up, and Hino Rei, the raven-haired priestess already standing, as the three of them tearing out of the Crown as though the devil were at their heels. They did this so often most people didn't bother to look up anymore.

Mamoru stood a moment later. Motoki was busy working, and without his favorite Odango, there was no point in remaining. "I've got a paper due tomorrow. I need to make sure it's right." He waved to Motoki as he left, looking up and down the street instinctively. He didn't see any sign of Usagi or the others. He let out a small sigh and began the walk home.

Only moments had passed before he began to feel the pull. It started in the pit of his stomach, but quickly raced up to his heart and brain. Sailor Moon needed him again. The second blonde girl in his life was often afraid when she transformed. He wondered why she was so afraid when she was obviously the strongest of the Senshi. It was almost always her attack that destroyed a Youma.

He quickly found an alley and with a wave of his hand, pulled a rose from thin air, nearly instantly transforming into Tuxedo Kamen. He followed the pull in his chest, which seemed linked to the little blonde heroine, and made his way to her as quickly as possible. The quickest path was often over rooftops, so he jumped and ran from one building to the next in light leaps, loving the feeling of the wind ruffling his hair and cape.

He reached the park, where most of the attacks seemed to happen for some unknown reason, and perched on a tree branch, waiting. He did this for every battle. He had one goal, and it wasn't to defeat the Youma. No, his only goal was keeping Sailor Moon safe. Sometimes he helped the others, though that was only if Sailor Moon was in no danger. He had tried to help them all in the beginning, but quickly learned he couldn't take his eyes from the leader. She often had to put herself in harm's way in order to defeat the Youma, and on top of that she tended to klutz out at the worst possible moments.

Unfortunately, she was often reprimanded to the point of tears by Mars and Mercury, and even a little black cat who often appeared at the end of a battle. He'd seen her break into tears many times. That was why he made it his goal to only ever encourage her. He was terribly afraid she would give up the fight, or would lose her concentration at an inopportune moment if there wasn't one person who seemed to be completely on her side. He often had to bite his tongue though, because he wanted to yell at her, even shake her, when she was nearly burned or decapitated or sliced to pieces. It wasn't a pleasant feeling.

He was linked to her somehow, and he was sure that if she died, the world would end. His world at the very least, but possibly the entire world. She was important. He just couldn't figure out why she had suddenly appeared. The strange occurrences she fought had started months before she came into the picture, but her appearance had stopped most of the attacks since then. Even Sailor V, the other Sailor Suited superhero hadn't done as well before she'd mysteriously disappeared.

He settled himself in to watch. The Youma was another scantily clad female, this one neon blue with dark blue hair, who seemed to enjoy screaming "aquama" over and over. She let out jets of water at the Senshi, mostly missing them. Sailor Mercury stepped forward, not behind her computer for once, and lifted her arms. She screamed her attack, "Shabon Spray," and tried to freeze the water. It didn't work.

Mars screamed "Burning Mandala," a moment later, but the flames were put out by jets of water. She growled and pulled out an ofuda, chanted something he couldn't make out, and threw it at the creature, who blocked it with another spray before turning her jets of water on the fire Senshi. She and Mercury were both thrown back.

Sailor Moon had not been idle however. She'd crept around behind the Youma and pulled off her tiara. Just as the two were thrown back she released her fully charged tiara, which sliced straight through the Youma, creating a small pile of dust where it had stood. She jumped to the side of her friends, helping them up.

Mars was less than grateful. "Took you long enough," she growled her complaint. "You should have moved faster and..." Tuxedo Kamen stopped listening. He watched as Moon's elation over the defeat of the Youma was drained away like it had never been there. She simply nodded at each of the other Senshi's complaints, not even jumping when Mercury and the cat joined in. She stared at her feet, unable to make eye contact.

None of the others with her noticed how she stumbled, not from clumsiness now, but from exhaustion. They didn't see how she held her right wrist carefully, close to her chest, obviously in pain. They didn't notice the single tear that fell from her cheek, or the small gash on the back of one thigh. They certainly didn't thank her for what she had done. They didn't give her any credit for not klutzing out, or show her any kindness at all.

He sighed and leapt from the branch he had been perched on. "Sailor Moon!" he called, and the blonde turned to him with a half-hearted smile. She took a step forward before Mars pulled on her arm and stepped in front of her.

"What do you want?" The dark-haired Senshi was being extremely rude, but Tuxedo Kamen was used to it. Mercury still hadn't decided, but Mars either didn't trust him, or didn't want him near Moon for another reason. He wasn't about to question her, or answer her.

"You did well Sailor Moon," he said, his voice carrying. "You've improved." He lifted his hat and bowed to her before leaping away. It only took a moment before he was hidden from all but the blonde who followed him with her eyes for several long moments. He turned to see she was staring at him, a real smile on her face finally.

He saw that disappear quickly as the others seemed to interrogate her. They had forgotten that it had been the two of them for a long time. Just him and Moon fighting together. Back in those days he had often fought the Youma right along with her, but had been pushed away quickly when Mars arrived on scene.

He headed over the rooftops, leaping one to another, as he headed toward his silent apartment. He reminded himself yet again that he _liked_ to be alone. He _liked_ the quiet. He _liked_ that no one asked where he had been, or what he had been doing. With a sigh he released his henshin and went to do what he always did in the evenings. Study. Alone.

* * *

Usagi knew she was being a crybaby again. She just didn't really care at the moment. She had another failing test in her bag, had been yelled at by Rei and Luna, and even Ami had complained. She'd been working so hard, almost completely by herself, and was really getting nowhere. Though, she let a brief smile touch her lips, at least Tuxedo Kamen seemed to see it. But there was only so much she could do.

At least Luna wasn't with her tonight. The black cat who called herself Usagi's guardian had claimed to be disgusted with her performance, and had decided to go with Ami. At least the bluenette wasn't so bad about the complaints. She only wanted Usagi to study her enemy more. How on earth that was supposed to be accomplished, she didn't say. But it always stung when she added to the other's arguments.

Usagi had come to the realization that something was different in her. She wasn't like the other Senshi, and she couldn't understand why. They didn't seem exhausted after a fight. Their attacks never left them blistered and bleeding. They never klutzed out and failed repeatedly. It was as if the moment they received their transformation pens they had already been fighting their entire lives. While Usagi, as Sailor Moon, constantly struggled. She was always tired, always afraid, and always messing up something. It was discouraging to say the least.

She reached her door and sighed before opening it, bracing herself for the storm to come. "Usagi? Is that you?" Her mother's voice called out from the kitchen.

"Yes Mom," Usagi answered, pulling out the failed English test and walking to meet her mother. She'd gotten a fifty on the test, and while it wasn't the worst grade she'd received, she knew she would get no dinner. She automatically handed the test to her mother, looking at her feet. Once upon a time she'd had time for homework and studying. She'd only really failed math tests, and that wasn't due to a lack of trying. Now, she seemed to be failing everything. She couldn't even meet her mother's eyes as she scanned the red mark on the paper.

"Out! Get out!" Ikuko screamed, pointing her finger at the front door. Usagi automatically turned and made her way to the door, hearing the lock click a moment later. She let out one small sob, and covered her face with her hands. She heard a tapping sound and turned to the window where Shingo held up a kabob full of meat and vegetables. She turned away even as he continued tapping, and instead of staying there to endure his teasing, she walked away.

She decided to head for the park. At least she would be close by if there was another attack tonight. They seemed to be coming more often lately, and she wasn't sure why. She looked up at the sky. It was nearly dark, so she wouldn't be able to do her homework, but perhaps she could do some of her tai chi exercises. Hopefully if she kept up with the practice she would eventually learn balance.

With a sigh, she placed her school bag, which was more like a briefcase, down onto one of the benches and stood, looking at the water as she began. "Zhou, peng, cai, ji, kao, lu, lie, an," then started again, "zhou, peng, cai, ji kao, lu, lie, an." She recited each pose as she made her way into it, focusing on one series of movements. It was easier for her than doing the entire routine at once. She had no idea how long she had been working, but when she finally looked up the moon was high in the sky and the park was empty.

She stopped and sat on the bench, pulling her right hand close to her face to examine it in the moonlight. The blisters were mostly healed, but the skin was still red and raw. By morning, if someone looked, they would never be able to tell she had been injured, though the pain would linger for a while. Mars and Mercury tended to heal much more rapidly than she did, and she wished for a moment she was as strong as them.

With a heavy sigh she stood and grabbed her bag, heading back to her house. The door was unlocked, and no one seemed to be awake. She groaned and walked to the fridge for the one thing she was allowed when she failed a test. A single piece of fruit. Tonight it was a tangerine. She sighed and went up the stairs to her bedroom. She wished, just once, that her parents would actually be proud of her.

Before she could sit down her mother knocked on the door. Usagi opened it and moved to sit on her bed. Her mother sat beside her. "Where did you go?" She asked, her voice quiet so she didn't wake anyone.

"To the park. I couldn't do the homework there, but I practiced for a bit." She shrugged.

Ikuko nodded at her explanation. "You know I love you right?"

Usagi nodded. "I do try mom," she tried to explain. "I do try to do my homework, and even remember to turn it in, but..." She wasn't sure how to explain.

"You can do better Usagi," her mother insisted.

She could only nod. Her mother stood and kissed her on the forehead before leaving the room. As soon as the door closed Usagi covered her face with her hands again, letting the tears come. She wished she wasn't always such a disappointment. She wished she could make her mother proud, and Luna. She finally cried herself out and wiped her tears away with her palms.

She eventually settled at her table, getting comfortable on the cushion and pulling out her homework before she peeled the tangerine. She ate slowly, only allowing herself a slice when she had finished five problems. Even so, it was gone long before her homework was completed. It took nearly three hours to finish it all, and she carefully put it back in the bag. She was getting better about that.

She moved to the bathroom and brushed her teeth before crawling into her bed. She pulled out a small bag. She'd run to the store after school, before meeting Ami and Rei. She set up her new purchase on a shelf across her bedroom and stared at it for a moment. She had to set the time, and changed the alarm to the loudest setting. The new alarm was set for one minute after her other one would go off in the morning. Hopefully she wouldn't have to be scratched awake anymore.

She finally crawled under the covers. It was just after midnight, and if there were no more attacks that night she would get to sleep for six hours. She hoped. Her eyes closed slowly. She had fought sleep for a long time after the dreams started, but now she knew it slowed her reflexes, so she just grit her teeth and waited for sleep to take her.

) O (

_She raced behind the man holding her hand. She couldn't see his face, just the sway of his cape as he ran through the darkness with her. Her eyes caught on the beaded bracelet on her wrist, then traveled up to the black hair on his head. She saw the glint of his sword, and shuddered. The world was burning. The white surface of the moon had become a battleground. Buildings covered in orange flame. People lay on the streets, dead or dying, killed by the mindless people following Beryl. It was like their thoughts and memories had been erased and replaced with anger and hatred._

_She saw a bit of orange and stumbled to her knees next to a girl with long blonde hair tied back with a red ribbon, which was nearly undone. Her white fuku was stained with blood, the orange skirt torn and bloody too. She held one hand over the wound in her belly, though she was cold to the touch. Beside her lay a man with silver-white hair, his own sword piercing his chest. He had fallen beside her. The swordsman with her lifted her back to her feet and half pulled, half carried her away._

_Just feet away she saw another Senshi, this one green-skirted, also dead, a brunette man lying half over her. He too had impaled himself with his own sword. Tear tracks stained his white cheeks and he held one of the girl's hands in his own. The caped man pulled at her, tugging at her and yelling, though she couldn't hear his words. She could only hear the flames crackling, and her own screams._

_A blue skirted fuku, hidden by the body of a man with long blonde hair came next. She could see the short blue hair of Mercury, also pale in death. The man over her had killed himself as well, and appeared to have tried to give her one last kiss. His blood and hers mingled and pooled on the ground beneath the Senshi._

_Finally, a few feet beyond lay Sailor Mars, her long black hair shorn, her wound still pumping blood sluggishly. She threw herself at the other woman, but knew it was too late. The short-haired blonde, dead beside her gave evidence of that, if nothing else did. Mars opened her eyes once, tried to lift her hand, but was too weak. Her eyes slowly closed, her head fell to the side, and she breathed no more._

_"Hurry!" she heard the man who was struggling to lift her again while she fought him, kicking and screaming to stay with her friends. She scratched at her face, crying tears and blood. She was pulled away, and up a flight of marble stairs. They followed a long hallway, the lights doused, and he raced with her to another door, hoping to reach safety._

_When the door opened they were stopped. A woman with long red hair and hardly any dress stood at the top of another marble staircase. She snarled when she looked at the two of them._

_"Come to me Endymion," she spoke, her voice grating. She held out one hand as though to take him, but he backed away._

_"Never!"_

_"We can rule the Solar System together once that moon brat is destroyed," she cajoled. "You are king now after all, and I will be your queen."_

_"She already is my queen!" the man hissed._

_With a scream of rage the red-head threw a ball of black energy. She flinched, closing her eyes, but it never hit. Instead she heard a gasp of pain. In a heartbeat she was screaming. "Endymion!" She spoke his name again and again, as she lowered him to the stones under their feet. "Please don't leave me! Endymion!"_

_He lifted a hand, able to touch her face. "I love you," it came out as a gurgle, and he breathed his last. His hand fell, his head turned, and his eyes closed. With a scream of pain and hopelessness, she scrabbled the sword out of it's sheath. She was utterly alone now. Her mother was probably already dead, her people were gone. She was so alone. Her only love dead before her eyes. And if the woman took her the rest of the people in the Solar System would suffer, She knelt beside her Prince and placed the hilt on the ground before falling onto the blade. She fell over him, the pain fierce, and she gasped her few last breaths._

_"I love you too," she mouthed, unable to actually speak._

) O (

Usagi woke with a gasp, trying to suck air into her lungs. The pain was incredible. Burning, piercing, biting pain that ate away at her for several long minutes before finally beginning to ease. Tears streamed down her cheeks. The sadness and the pain lasted longer and longer after each dream, and the dreams were becoming more frequent. She managed to turn as the bile rose and vomited into her trash can. It was the only option she had. She never would have made it as far as the bathroom.

A quick glance at the clock told her it was nearly five in the morning. There was just no time to go back to sleep. She stared at the ceiling for several long minutes before she made the first attempt to climb out of bed. She groaned and finally managed to sit, almost upright. She looked around. Luna had not come back the night before. She was grateful. She really didn't need her guardian telling her she was making a big deal out of nothing again.

After several long minutes she was able to stand and stumbled into her bathroom. She peeled off her sweat-soaked clothes and sunk onto the floor of the shower. After washing her hair and body she climbed out, the pain feeling less intense finally, and was able to brush her teeth. She made it through the rest of the morning on autopilot. She shut off both alarms, went down the stairs, and packed herself a bento box. At the last minute she made one for Shingo too. He could be a brat, but she loved him.

She finally sat down to have some breakfast as her mother came into the kitchen. She thanked Usagi, seeming a little startled to see her up so early, though, Usagi thought with frustration, it should have seemed a bit more normal now. She ate and then left, still very early, with her school bag in one hand, her lunch in the other.

Slow trudging steps. That was the only way on mornings like these. It was a Friday, which meant there was a chance for a break soon, and she was looking forward to no school or tests for two days in a row. And no run-ins with Mamoru-baka. As cute as he was, and as much as she secretly crushed on him, she just could not handle his teasing. She caught sight of her right hand and frowned. The skin was still red and raw, which made no sense. She'd slept. She should have healed by now.

Transferring her lunch to the hand holding her school bag, she reached down and behind to feel the back of her thigh. The wound there was closed, but it seemed like it was still scabbed over. Very odd. Whatever was happening to her, it was stronger, and she was weaker. She shook her head and continued moving. On mornings like these, even though she left early, she was still lucky if she made it on time, even without her run-in with that Baka.

Honestly, she'd never been able to figure out why he was so mean to her. He was so smart that he had a scholarship to one of the most prestigious high schools in Tokyo, and handsome enough to have been a male model, had plenty of money apparently from an inheritance. He didn't have people constantly telling him he wasn't good enough, or smart enough, or fast enough, or strong enough.

She sighed. She couldn't figure out what he could possibly have to complain about her failings for. She had hit him with a test, sure, but it couldn't have possibly hurt him. Okay, well there was also the shoe. Twice. But that wasn't her fault really.

She rubbed her free hand over her face. Her hair was almost dry now and it was beginning to blow about in the breeze. It took her a moment to realize she was twirling one long strand around her fingers. She let go and sighed again.

A moment later she fell, hard, onto the ground. She blinked her eyes open to see Mamoru standing over her looking startled. He reached down and grabbed her hand. She cried out as his closed over hers, feeling the remnants of her burn.

"Cut it out Odango! I'm not murdering you." He scowled. It figured. The one day she wasn't running, he had to be. He was wearing his jogging clothes. She wondered just how early it was. Rubbing a hand over her bottom, which was sore enough to match the rest of her, she glared at him.

"My name is- Oh forget it." She sighed and bent down for her bento box and school bag, gasping a little at the pain in her belly. She moved around him slowly, and continued to walk. She couldn't even get up the energy for an argument this morning, though it might have raised her spirits, if she wasn't so sure he would have insulted her grades, her ability to walk, and just about everything else about her.

A moment later she heard his footsteps behind her. She didn't bother to turn. There was no point.

"Odango?" His voice sounded concerned now. Strange. He'd never sounded concerned about her before. He put a hand on her shoulder to stop her. "What are you doing out here so early?"

"Nothing," she wasn't sure how much she could talk before she broke down into sobs. "Just getting an early start."

Mamoru checked his watch and looked at her. She lowered her eyes. She couldn't deal with this right now. She started walking again. He fell into step beside her, but she didn't speak. She wished, just this once, that he would go away. She knew she was not putting on her normal happy, bubbly show, and she couldn't muster the energy to do it.

"What's wrong Usagi?" That stopped her in her tracks. She turned, glancing up at him, before she looked at the ground again. He'd never said her name before.

"Everything," she mumbled, but she knew he didn't hear her. She sighed again. "Nothing." She tried to put on a smile, and failed miserably. "I'm fine Mamoru." If he could use her name, she would use his. "I just had a nightmare."

He nodded, but seemed to be waiting for more. She shook her head. She wasn't able to share the rest, even if she wanted to. No reason to add more failures to his list of things to tease her about. She met his eyes again briefly and then turned to walk again. He stayed silent but moved with her. With him no longer asking questions, his company was actually welcome. Her free hand she held over her abdomen, holding the invisible wound that still ached.

He walked all the way to the gates of the high school with her. Before she could go in, he stopped her one more time, lifted her chin for just a moment and looked into her eyes. "If you need me," he whispered. She could only nod in thanks. She swallowed a lump in her throat as he released her and turned away.

The moment she knew he was gone she let the tears flow, making her way inside and to the bathroom where she cried for several moments before washing her face carefully to hide all traces of tears. And then she put her mask back on. It was as real as the one worn by Tuxedo Kamen, though no one could tell she was wearing it. Not her friends, or her family, or her teachers. She sighed and pretended to smile.

Once she was as ready as she could be, she made her way to the classroom, with less than a minute to spare before the bell rang. Her homework turned in at the front, she made her way to her seat and faced the front of the room.

* * *

**Lessons Learned**  
**Chapter Two:**  
**Festival**

* * *

"I've never seen her like that Motoki," Mamoru whispered, watching the bubbly blonde in the mirror. He could see it now. The mask so like his own. He didn't know what was bothering her, but something was obviously different about her, and he wondered just how long he'd been missing it. She laughed, still loud and annoyingly, but he could see now just how much she was hiding behind the smile.

"I don't know what to tell you Mamoru. She looks fine now. Maybe she did just have a bad dream." Motoki looked at him carefully. "It could be something like yours," he added after a moment. Mamoru nodded. Motoki was the only one who knew his secret identity, and about his dreams.

"It was like she was holding herself together." He sighed. "She was holding her belly like it hurt. Do you think..." he trailed off, uncertain how to continue. "Could she be..."

"Spit it out Mamoru."

"Being abused?" He finished, unsure if it fit.

Motoki was shaking his head. "I doubt it. Her father dotes on her, though he seems to think she's still three. Her mother can be tough on her, but loves her. Her brother is a pain, but he would never actually hurt her."

"What about a boyfriend?" Mamoru asked, ignoring the clench in his gut at the thought of her with another guy. She wasn't his, and he had no right to be jealous.

"No. She hasn't even had her first kiss yet, thinks all the boys in school are too immature, and dreams of her prince charming." He grinned at Mamoru's startled look. "Don't be surprised. You aren't the only one who spills their guts to me. She thinks of me like her big brother." A short bark of laughter followed. "It's certainly better than the days she had a crush on me."

Mamoru smiled back. He hadn't even realized Usagi had ever had a crush on Motoki, though he could see why. The guy was always smiling and happy, just like her.

Suddenly the little blonde they were discussing walked to the counter and sat in the stool next to Mamoru's. He checked the mirror and saw her friends leaving. Rei was scowling and Ami was frowning.

"What's up Odango?" Mamoru asked, hoping she was up to one of their little battles.

"My name is Usagi! U.S.A.G.I." She gave him a little glare and a frown, but the heat didn't really reach her eyes. "Mamoru-baka, you call me stupid, but you can't learn one single name?"

Mamoru could only smirk at her. "You know you love it Odango," he said, and tweaked her hair, reveling in the silky strands before releasing it.

She snorted. "Yeah right." Now her grin seemed more real. Mamoru realized she might enjoy their arguments as much as he did.

"So, run into any poles today?" He asked with a laugh, remembering one funny incident when she had apologized profusely to a street sign.

"No," she answered, "pick on any children today?" She was facing him completely now, and smiling.

He grinned back. "Nope, but if you want I can pick on you."

"Oi, be nice to Usagi!" Motoki tried to interject, sliding a chocolate shake to her in a move reminiscent of old-time bar tenders depicted in Western movies.

Mamoru snatched it and stole the first sip before sliding it back to her. She glared at him and hovered over her chocolate treat protectively before sucking down a huge gulp of the shake. Then she let out a frustrated cry of pain and held a hand to her head. "Every time!" she muttered. "I forget every time!"

"Not another brain freeze?" Mamoru mocked, laughing. "Don't you need brains for that?"

"I notice you staring in the mirror a lot Mamoru, worried it will break?" She giggled.

"Hey Usagi-chan, you going to the festival this weekend?" Motoki interjected, trying to stop them before they got out of hand.

Mamoru watched as she excitedly talked to Motoki. At times their arguments were awful and even mean, and at other times they seemed almost pleasant. Fun even. He wondered why that was. With a shrug he turned back to the conversation.

* * *

The day had not been a good one. He'd lost most of his work on a paper when his laptop had malfunctioned, spilled hot coffee down his thigh, and had slipped in the shower, banging his head and bruising his pride. He wasn't sure he could handle a festival in his current mood, but here he was. He'd met Motoki at the arcade and they'd driven over together. Motoki was in a cheerful mood and Mamoru was determined not to ruin it, but he knew Odango and her friends were meeting up with them later, and he wasn't sure he could keep any arguments civil today.

The festival was loud. It wasn't what he had expected. In fact, it was very western. Much like he assumed theme parks were in America in fact. Rides and food and haunted houses. Costumes were worn by many of the people attending, though Mamoru wasn't wearing one. Motoki looked around with a grin as he waved the girls over.

Mamoru groaned. There was no way he could deal with all the squealing and screaming all night without arguing with the Odangoed one. Ugh! She was so loud, and so clumsy that he was sure there were going to be problems for the next several hours. The other girls weren't so bad. Ami and Rei seemed much more down to earth. Ami especially was calm and studious.

Usagi was staring around her as though looking for someone. He looked around too, wondering of they had brought anyone else with them. Perhaps the little red-head that used to be with Usagi all the time. His suspicions were confirmed a moment later when she and the young boy she was dating came running up to them.

"Naru! Umino!" She hollered, rushing to give them both hugs. "I'm so glad you could make it."

Behind him Rei snorted angrily. He looked between the little blonde and the raven-haired priestess. Ami went to say hi to the newcomers as well, receiving a hug from Naru.

They went through the food vendors first, as a hungry Usagi was not fun to be around, and all of them knew it. She wanted to try something new and fun. She ended up with a caramel apple in one hand and a candy apple in the other. She took one bite of the candy apple and passed it to Naru, who seemed to enjoy it. She tried the caramel apple next and when Rei held out a hand for a bite she squealed and took another large one before handing it over.

They found fried dough covered in cinnamon and sugar, caramel corn, as well as pies, subs and hotdogs and a type of burger covered in chili and cheese. The Odangoed one made a mess of herself and Mamoru couldn't help teasing her a bit for it. Usagi seemed to abhor candy corn and he heard her mutter that it was "worse than carrots."

After that they found an activity where people attempted to grab apples with their teeth. The apples floated in a large metal bucket of water, and when a person was attempting the task they had to keep their hands behind their back. To Mamoru it seemed very unsanitary. Usagi attempted it and came up with one, so did Naru, but when Umino made the attempt he fell head first into the bucket. No one else wanted to try after that.

For the next several hours the group went through activities, games, and rides. Usagi won herself a Tuxedo Kamen doll and a Sailor Moon doll at the ring toss. She kept making them smooch, much to Rei's disgust. She pulled Usagi roughly aside and gave her a lecture. For a moment Mamoru experienced an overwhelming feeling of deja vu.

After a moment he broke between the two of them and pulled Usagi away from her and over to challenge him with water pistols. He couldn't stand the look of sadness in her eyes as her friend berated her for everyone to see. _He_ was the only one allowed to torment her.

As a whole the group headed for the line at the haunted house and the fun house.

"I don't want to go into the haunted house!" Usagi whined, loudly.

"Well the rest of us want to go," Rei hissed. "We went through all the food and the games with you. The least you can do is go with us now."

Usagi sniffled. "It's scary."

"Oh Kami you're pathetic." Rei huffed.

"You are!" Usagi said, and stuck her tongue out at the fiery priestess. The girl did the same, and everyone grinned. Except Mamoru.

Mamoru wasn't too keen on the idea of a haunted house himself. It wasn't that he was afraid, but rather that he would do nearly anything to avoid hearing Usagi scream for twenty minutes. Not to mention he knew she was already dealing with nightmares.

"I'll take the Odango to the fun house instead. That's just mirrors." He offered finally, after a three minute tongue 'war' between Usagi and Rei had driven him nearly insane.

Everyone turned to him with startled looks. He chuckled. "Do any of you really want to hear her screams through the whole thing?" Suddenly understanding, the others began to nod and smile. Mamoru grabbed Usagi's hand and pulled her away before she could argue. The last thing he needed was another argument.

* * *

"You didn't have to embarrass me," Usagi hissed, still obviously upset by her fight with Rei.

"I didn't have a lot of choice." Mamoru insisted. "Rei wasn't going to back down and we both know it. You would have been screaming and we all would have ended up with a headache."

"Baka!" She whined. "That's not fair!" She wailed for a minute and it grated on his nerves. He'd saved her for crying out loud. Couldn't she just be grateful?

"You are so pathetic," Mamoru announced as they entered the fun house a few minutes later.

"You're just mean!" Usagi insisted.

"Only to you Odango!" He growled.

"It's USAGI. OOh-Sah-Ghee. U.S.A.G.I. You call me stupid, and yet you haven't been able to learn a simple name." She huffed and turned away from him.

"Pretty sure you've used that one before Odango!"

"ARGGGH!" She turned away from him.

"It's this way, Odango," he said, grabbing her by the shoulder and pulling her in a different direction.

"Baka! I just wanted to explore," she lied.

* * *

"AHHH!" The floor under them was rocking forwards and back wildly and both of them were unsteady. Usagi couldn't hold her balance and fell into him.

"Two more steps and we're done this part," Mamoru said into her ear as he stood her back up. Sometimes she could be a bit pathetic.

"We've been in here forever!" Usagi whined. "We're lost!" Another loud wail erupted and he covered her mouth. A second passed before he felt the wetness on his palm.

"Did you seriously just lick my hand? You are so immature Odango!"

She only stuck her tongue out at him in response. He growled.

They moved off the platform and into the mirror maze. "This way," he said, pointing her in the right direction.

"How do you know?" She asked.

"I have this thing I use. It's called a brain. Maybe, someday you'll get one." Mamoru glared at her.

"Jerk."

"Crybaby!"

"Baka!"

"Wimp."

"Conceited Jerk!"

"Moron."

Mamoru couldn't help but lose his temper when she stomped on his foot. He grabbed her arm and pushed her further into the maze. "You are just such a clueless, immature, spoiled brat!" he hissed at her. "You need to grow the hell up and learn some responsibility. God you're pathetic."

He didn't see the tears. He refused. He wasn't looking! He wasn't going to feel guilty for losing his temper. She'd stomped on his foot for crying out loud. He ignored her occasional sniffles and continued to push her though the maze.

From the side an arm came across both of them and they were pushed through a doorway neither of them had seen. They stumbled into a room, and a moment later the door was closed behind them.

* * *

"Mamoru-baka?" Usagi could tell her voice was as frightened as she felt.

They had been trapped in the strange room for several minutes, and no one seemed to hear them knocking. She refused to sniffle and be a crybaby like he assumed. Instead she searched for an exit and wondered if it was safe to use her communicator to call for help. Unfortunately she didn't want him to know she was Sailor Moon, and she wasn't sure the two of them weren't being watched.

"Mamoru?" She tried again.

He turned to her, his hands still on the door that had slammed closed behind them. Whoever it was that had shoved them in here had locked it. The mirrors were lit by an unknown source, and it was beginning to give her a headache. She closed her eyes for a moment, willing the lights to dim.

"You okay Odango?" he asked.

She nodded, but didn't open her eyes. "The lights hurt me," she admitted.

"Me too." He sighed. "I don't think we're going to get out of here without help, and my cell isn't working." He closed his own eyes and covered them with his hands.

Usagi briefly checked her communicator, but when she tried to press the buttons for Mars and Mercury, nothing happened. She closed her own eyes again, after snapping the lid shut.

Suddenly shuffling footsteps could be heard. She opened her eyes and saw Mamoru do the same. He moved closer to her as they saw a strange man wearing a long purple robe coming forward. Neither could see where he had appeared from, but they did notice the lights had dimmed.

Mamoru pushed Usagi behind him as the strange man came toward them. He held up a talisman. It had two pieces interconnected, one male and one female, attached to a larger disk.

"If you two do not learn harmony, the end will come." the man said, before he reached one hand out and spun the figures on the disk. "Learn the lesson."

A moment later the lights became so bright that Usagi screeched in pain and covered both eyes. Mamoru did the same, and he pulled her up against his chest, hiding his own face in her hair. Both of them had to keep their eyes closed for several long minutes, but when they opened them, the door they had been shoved through was open.

* * *

**Lessons Learned**  
**Chapter Three**  
**Switched**

* * *

Mamoru found himself inside a dream much more strange than he'd ever had before. Instead of his princess standing on a balcony asking him for the Silver Crystal, he found himself instead in a war-torn area. In the body of a woman, following someone who seemed an awful lot like himself, witnessing the deaths of the Senshi, and then himself. It was him that took the hit for the girl whose body he was trapped in. Then the girl picked up his sword and pierced herself with it, falling down over the man who looked like him. Pain blossomed in him, so fierce he couldn't breathe.

Opening his eyes, he screamed, but it wasn't his voice that was screaming. He knew that voice. He shut his mouth with a snap. Usagi's voice disappeared. He rolled over, finding a trash can with a scented bag next to the bed, and vomited through the pain. Wondering what the hell was happening, he looked around at the very pink room.

A black cat was staring at him. Her eyes were red, and there was a crescent moon on her forehead, which he assumed was a bald spot. "Usagi-chan?" Came a woman's voice. "Another dream?" It was the cat speaking. She stood and came closer, nudging against his arm. "Was it the same one?"

A small shriek escaped Mamoru, again in Usagi's voice. His brain sped through the possibilities. He couldn't let this cat know he was stuck in Usagi's body. Couldn't let her know something was wrong. So he nodded, unsure what else to do.

"Well go take a shower and you'll feel better." Luna. That was the cat's name. Luna sniffed a little when he didn't immediately move.

Finally he sat up and tried to stand. But the pain was so bad he fell as soon as he'd gained his feet. He clutched his abdomen, wondering what was wrong with Usagi that she would be in so much pain. He'd never felt anything like it.

"Oh, don't be so dramatic. It always fades Usagi-chan. Just go take your shower. You have to be at the temple by ten you know."

Mamoru ended up crawling to the bathroom. He used the counter to help him stand and looked into the mirror. Sure enough Usagi's face was looking back at him. He stifled another scream. He looked wildly around. There was no way he could shower in her body. She would kill him. It was going to be torture just going to the bathroom.

_Oh crap! I have to go to the bathroom!_ His thoughts were wild. He didn't know what to do. He made his way to the toilet, automatically reaching for his own equipment before remembering he was in a female body. _Crap. Crap. Double crap._ He frowned.

Finally he figured it couldn't be too bad. He pulled down the pajamas and underwear, careful not to so much as peek, and a minute later was surprised that everything had been so easy. Unfortunately he couldn't just shake himself. He reached for the toilet paper, mentally screaming as he wiped the area. He knew there was no way he could shower. Instead he went back into the bedroom and grabbed some clothing.

It took him a while to find something he considered appropriate. He found a pair of lavender jeans, a black short sleeved t-shirt, and a green short jacket. The length only came past the chest, but the arms were full length. He wasn't sure if he should button it or not so he just left it open.

Glancing at the time he noted it was only seven thirty. He rushed out, still clutching his belly. The pain from the dream still lingered.

"Usagi!" He turned back to see Luna sitting on the edge of the bed. She threw something at him. It was the golden brooch. He stuffed it in a pocket and sighed when she also threw him a pink watch. "I swear, you are just worthless sometimes," the cat hissed.

Mamoru was taken aback. Sure he'd had a rough morning, but he hadn't done anything that bad. Who did this cat think she was? And why did she seem so familiar? His brain was still fogged after the nightmare, but he was sure he had seen her before.

"Your hair isn't even done," the cat continued. He glanced in the mirror to see the rather messy leftovers of the Odango buns Usagi always sported.

"I'll fix it soon," he promised, in Usagi's voice. "I just need to grab something." He backed out of the room and closed the door behind him. Making his way downstairs he made no noise whatsoever as he tiptoed to the front door and out of the house.

As soon as the door was closed behind him he took off running, and fell three steps later. He groaned. This could not be happening to him!

* * *

Usagi groaned. The princess on the balcony was wearing _her_ dress, and _her_ hair. She was suddenly angry. Only _she_ ever wore that hairstyle. She stretched in the bed, feeling strange, and opened her eyes.

A moment later she screamed. She was not in her own room, but in a room that was painted grey. She was in a bed that was not her own, and next to her was a table that held only books and an alarm clock. She reached out, searching for her brooch. Nothing. She held up her wrist to look for her communicator, but it was gone as well.

And then she caught a good look at the wrist. Hair. There was hair on her wrist. And the hands were too large, and rougher than her own. She held up the other hand before letting out a shout in a voice that definitely was not her own. It was a male voice. And worse, she recognized the voice.

"oh no!" She cried, but her voice was a man's voice. "Oh no oh no oh no! Kami!" And then she screamed again, a strangely girlish sound even with Mamoru's voice instead of her own.

A fierce knocking was coming from another area of what she now assumed was his apartment. She stumbled out of the bed and went out of the room, following a short hallway to a living room that was as boring as it was fancy, and made her way to the door, almost tripping over the edge of the genkan.

She pulled open the door and stared at herself. Her real face was looking back at her, and quickly pushed her back into the apartment and followed her in. Her own voice was a growl coming out with Mamoru's inflections when he spoke. "Please tell me that's you in there Usagi. We don't need any more people added to this, whatever it is."

Usagi could only nod, looking down at herself. She was so tiny from this angle. No wonder he never took her seriously. She looked so small! Her voice came out higher pitched than she'd ever heard from his mouth when she answered.

"What's going on? I just woke up. I thought I'd been kidnapped." She looked again at his hands, which she was using. "Is this some weird nightmare?"

"I don't think so," the answer sounded like her, but not with that tone and pitch. "We have to do something."

"What do we do?" She asked, edging closer and closer to hysteria. "Oh, Kami, what do we DO!?"

"Calm down Usagi!" Mamoru spoke, and the sound of her voice with his inflections nearly drove her insane. Instead she began to laugh, and couldn't stop for a very long time. When she had finally calmed, Mamoru (still in her body, boy was this getting confusing) was busy pouring coffee.

"Do you have my communicator?" He gave her a questioning glance, and even she had to admit it made her face look a bit vapid. Crap. Obviously this was why no one ever took her seriously. "The watch. Did my cat give you my watch?"

He pulled the communicator out of his pocket and she snatched it away before giving him a sheepish look. "I uh. I have to go to the bathroom, but I don't know..." she trailed off. He gave her a horrified look and she giggled, which sounded strange coming out of his mouth.

"I had to as well. Don't worry, I made sure not to look, or accidentally touch something," hearing her own voice that way was so odd she almost forgot what he was talking about. She tried to forget in fact. It was just too embarrassing.

"How? How do I..."

A rather involved discussion followed before she headed for the bathroom to take care of business. When she came out he had lain an outfit on the bed and she dressed quickly. Once that task was taken care of the two of them sat down, but Usagi felt odd and uncomfortable between her legs. She gave him a startled look as she felt a pinch and another discussion had to be blushed through as he explained how to keep things tucked out of the way.

She looked down at herself, except it was his body. She was wearing jeans, a black short-sleeved t-shirt, and his ugly green jacket. She looked over at him, still wearing the outfit he'd picked. She wondered if he realized they were dressed like a couple, then shrugged, realizing he probably didn't.

"I'm hungry," he said suddenly, and even she had to admit her voice sounded whiney.

"I have a headache," she admitted. "You obviously need to eat. And much more than you usually do, I'm afraid. I have to consume about four times the calories of the other girls, and they have to eat more than other people as it is. Otherwise I start losing weight and get really weak, until I'm no good in a fi-." He didn't seem to notice that she didn't finish and Usagi sighed. She would have to tell him eventually.

"You need to drink a LOT more coffee. Completely addicted." He shrugged her shoulders.

"I really want my body back," she sighed, and he nodded enthusiastically, blonde odangos jumping with the movement.

He prepared the coffee while she made pancakes and sausage. He kept glancing at the time and she wondered what he was thinking.

"Okay, you aren't going to like what I'm about to tell you," he said, in her voice. She was startled and looked up, only to be forced to look down instead. This whole thing was so strange she pinched her belly to see if it was real.

"Hey!" shouted her voice. She giggled again, his own voice sounding insane when she did. "Alright, here's the thing... the thing is... Okay, see..." She looked at him, tilting her head slightly. Or, technically his head. This was all just too confusing.

Finally he continued. "At any given time you might feel a strange pain in your head, and then a tug in your chest. I can't explain it any better than that. Whatever you do, you can't give in to the feelings. She's just going to have do deal without back-up this time and pray the others can be there with her." He growled suddenly, and coming from her mouth it sounded so strange. Her eyes looked hard and angry.

"Who and what are you talking about?" She asked.

"I can't tell you that," he sighed. "Just don't give in to the feelings, okay?"

"I'll try, but there's something you should probably know as well. At any time this communicator might start beeping. Wait! Do you have my brooch?" She watched as he pulled it from her pants pocket and gave a sigh of relief. "Thank Kami!"

Unsure how to go on, she stood and paced. His longer legs were difficult to get used to, but she noticed she wasn't as klutzy in his body as she was in her own. Very strange. It was as though the balance was better. As though he was more fit and toned, and his leg muscles were fully developed. Maybe her own body was just going through a phase.

"Okay, so I'm not exactly who you think I am," she said finally. "I don't know if I can even walk you through this, but there is no one else, so unless we can get switched back before a Youma appears, you're stuck doing it."

"Did you say Youma?" Her voice sounded aggressive. She only nodded, his black hair falling into what were, for the moment, her eyes. She brushed it away in annoyance before moving to stand behind him.

"I'm going to fix these while we talk." She began to pull the buns out of her hair. It was a strange process when she wasn't in her own body. Who was she kidding, everything was strange this morning. "So, I uh. I am part of a team that fights those Youma that appear all the time. I'm um..." She sighed. "I'm Sailor Moon."

The silence stretched for a long time. She finished fixing the hair and moved to stand in front of him. Her. Whatever. Finally there was a huff of breath and he answered. "This can't be coincidence. Snap your right hand a little bit to the side and think about a rose." He commanded it in her voice, standing suddenly.

She did as he commanded and found a rose in her hand, before there was a rush of power in her body and she found herself closing her eyes to avoid a brief flash of light. She looked down again to see the tuxedo her masked hero always wore. It was just too much. She sat heavily and released the henshin.

"Take the brooch," she ordered, when she had calmed down. When he did she ordered him to lift it and told him the transformation phrase.

"Moon Prism Power Make Up," he said, in a firm but quiet voice. The lights and flashes of her own transformation took several long seconds. She noted, for the first time, that during her transformation she was actually naked for a time, and blushed.

"Holy crap," came her voice.

"You're telling me," she said in his.

"This just cannot be coincidence," he said again. "Do you realize we met on the same day in both forms?"

She nodded, his hair falling into her eyes again. "I have to call for help." She said finally. She watched as he released the henshin as well and sat again.

"Your cat said there was a meeting at ten." He gave her a look, and cocked his head, much like she often did. "Does she always talk to you like that?"

Usagi nodded. "She never used to, but ever since Mars came around..." there was no need to finish. He'd heard Mars often enough, belittling her.

"I'm assuming Mars is Rei, and Mercury is Ami. Am I right?" Mamoru asked.

"Yeah. Come on, lets go meet them." She stood and had to catch Mamoru as he stumbled. "Sorry about that. I can never seem to figure out my own legs." She giggled again, noting how strange it sounded yet again. She couldn't seem to focus.

The two of them left the apartment, talking in hushed voices as he explained his attacks and she explained hers. Mostly he could manipulate roses, and now vines. She had her tiara, which could be used like a discus or with the Twilight Flash attack.

"My powers seem different than the other girls," she added. "They don't seem to be weakened by using them, and they never get hurt by them."

"Wait, your attack hurts you?" Mamoru asked.

"Yeah." She looked around and saw her reflection in a shop window. It was strange seeing his eyes looking back at her. She shuddered. "This is just too weird. Hey, we haven't fought once!" She added excitedly.

"I think I'm too shocked and afraid to fight," he answered, "but lets get back to the attack hurting you."

"It's nothing really. Just when I use my tiara it burns me a bit. Only when I have to throw it. I think it's the charge I put into it. It fades overnight though." She tried smiling. "It's nothing debilitating if that's what you're worried about. The Twilight Flash attack just makes me really tired and a bit headachy."

He nodded, deep in thought. It was a good look for her face and she studied it. Maybe she could practice the look later, when she got her body back. "So how the heck do we switch back?" She asked the question that had been circling her mind.

"Not sure," he said. "It depends. Was it the old man at the festival or could it have been the Youma we fought? If it was the Youma, we just have to wait until we kill it. If it was the old man, we have to go talk to him."

"Okay." She tried not to hyperventilate. For some reason the shock of learning he was Tuxedo Kamen had made the whole thing seem surreal, but reality was crashing down on her, and she most definitely did not like it. "I uh. I don't remember fighting a Youma."

He stopped, her body nearly falling to the pavement, and she reached out and caught him automatically, as though it were a programed response. "Wait. You don't remember at all?"

Usagi shook her... his... head.

"That sounds a lot like what happened to me when I first became Tuxedo Kamen."

"So, what happened?" She asked.

"Okay, well, you and I had just stumbled out of the house of mirrors. Both of us were feeling sick."

Usagi nodded. She could remember that much.

"And then a Youma was right in front of us. No one was screaming, and the other Senshi didn't appear. I pushed you back inside the mirror house, and moved away to henshin. Then suddenly Sailor Moon was there and we were both attacking the Youma. But it threw something white at us and just disappeared."

"I can see some of that now," Usagi admitted. He just nodded. "Why is that?"

"Because now you know you're Tuxedo Kamen, I think. When Motoki told me who I was I started to remember."

"Wait! Motoki knows? He could be in danger!" Usagi felt a little panicked. Motoki was like a brother to her, and Mamoru's best friend. They couldn't lose him!

"No one is aware that he knows, and he promised never to speak of it to anyone but me." Her own voice sighing was interesting. Usagi nodded, trying to calm herself.

Mamoru felt clumsy and foolish. Usagi's legs didn't seem to work right. His belly still hurt from the dream. He had a slight headache, and every time he moved too fast he tripped. Usagi, in his body, seemed to be having a much better time of it. It was hard to imagine being her on a daily basis. If she felt like this all the time, he worried she would get seriously hurt in a battle. And it was no wonder he had to swoop in and save her.

"Do you know why I get pulled to you?" he asked. She shrugged. It looked silly in his body.

"No clue. I just knew that you would show up if there was a particularly bad fight. And that you would protect me. I have to warn you though..." she trailed off, unsure how to tell him. "The others don't trust you. I always have. I don't even know why I've always been so certain, but I never wavered."

"I'm pretty sure my only purpose in these battles is to protect you. That's why I tend to sit on the sidelines and just watch until you need me."

They began climbing the steps to the Hikawah Jinga, slowly but surely. She noted that he was lagging behind. Her legs were shorter, and her body weaker than his. In his body, she wasn't even getting tired. Though there were a lot of steps.

Rei appeared as they cleared the top and marched over to Mamoru, who unfortunately was trapped in Usagi's body. She wasn't sure what to do to stop the inevitable, and she was a little ashamed he was about to see what her 'friends' really thought of her. "What the hell are you doing? You're late! And why did you bring him? What is the matter with you. You really do have dumplings for brains if you thought you could bring Mamoru to our meeting. I swear you are the most foolish, stupid..."

And that was the moment Mamoru snapped. Tired, in pain, still hungry, and very worried about the situation he and Usagi had found themselves in, he lost his temper. It didn't happen often, and coming from the mouth of the tiny blonde it probably sounded very strange, but he no longer cared. "Shut up Rei. Shut up right this minute and don't you dare speak another word. Lets go inside right now." He motioned Usagi to follow him.

He could hear the sigh that followed, and noticed her wincing, but he didn't care. He was going to put a stop to this. Rei led the way into the living quarters. They stopped and removed their shoes, before going into a large room that held traditional tables and pillows. Ami and Luna were already there. Mamoru pointed Usagi's tiny little hand imperiously, motioning to Rei to sit down.

"First of all, I am not Usagi. You would know that if you had bothered to ask what was going on and why someone else was being brought to the meeting instead of jumping down your leader's throat." He waited for their reactions. The girls, and the cat stared at him, then at Usagi, who was fiddling nervously. Mamoru put a supporting arm around her.

No one spoke.

"Second. After spending the morning in Usagi's body, I am forced to admit that all of us have been too hard on her. She is in physical pain almost constantly, and I swear if I don't get some food in her belly soon this body will pass out." He turned and looked up at her. "How the hell do you live like this?"

Another shrug. Her hand was on her forehead. His forehead. Agh! This was confusing. He turned back to the others. "Usagi is right now dealing with my caffeine withdrawals, while I am dealing with her issues, including your attitudes. You call her your leader, but then treat her like crap." He sighed and tugged on Usagi's hand so they could sit on a couple of cushions on one side of the table. "I can't say much, because honestly, I've treated her the same way. Though to be fair, never as Tuxedo Kamen. Don't you think she'd perform better if you encouraged her and perhaps trained with her than she would when you are constantly belittling but offer no help? She's much more like my dream Princess then the rest of you Senshi,"

There was a stunned silence. He could hear the distant crackling of the Great Flame, and the sounds of crows cawing outside. He could hear Usagi's intake of breath, from his own mouth, and the sound of her heart beating. And then there was an explosion of talking as everyone else in the room tried to get him to explain himself.

* * *

**Lessons Learned**  
**Chapter Four**  
**Panic**

* * *

Mamoru was incensed. He wanted to slam his fist on the table in front of them. For more than an hour he'd sat and listened to the grumbling complaints about Usagi, mostly from Rei, and spoken under her breath, but the point was he'd hoped what he'd already said would have put a stop to it. He was frustrated and angry, and Usagi was completely miserable.

Finally he'd had enough and stood. Immediately he stumbled. "Do you think the clumsiness has something to do with the difference between Earth and Moon gravity?" He had turned to Usagi, in his body, in enough time to see a few tears swiftly wiped away.

"I don't know." His voice was scratchy as she whispered her answer. "I've been like that for about a year."

"Well, its time for us to get out of here." He held out a hand to her, forgetting just how much bigger his body was than hers. It had always been his job to protect her, and this was going to be strange.

"You can't just leave!" Rei tried to order them. Mamoru turned and glared. He wasn't about to accept anything from her anymore.

"First," he said, "you are not the leader. Second, I already asked you to treat Usagi better, and explained why she is the way she is. Third, I am in serious pain, and I'm hungry. She is still dealing with my awful caffeine withdrawals. It's Sunday. We only have today to go back to the festival. We're going."

He and Usagi walked out. There was nothing left to say. He was beginning to seriously hate Rei, and that wasn't like him. At most he generally felt antipathy, not hate. The only people to ever really get his attention were Motoki and Usagi, and neither of them had drawn his hate. In spite of appearances he actually enjoyed sparring with Usagi. He'd never hated her.

It occurred to him that there was a possibility that Rei was jealous of Usagi. She'd tried to get his attention several times, but he'd found her to be a nuisance, and a distraction from Usagi, so he'd ignored her. He tilted his head to the side, thinking carefully. Even as Tuxedo Kamen he'd only really focused on Sailor Moon. Sure he'd thrown a few roses for the others, but it was only for the little blonde that he was a constant hero.

"How long does this pain usually last?" They were walking down the long, steep staircase. Watching the shoulders under the green jacket shrug, he noticed the way it looked from a different angle and had to smile. It was a bit hideous.

"Depends I guess. If I have the dream every night, then it never stops." She gave him a sympathetic look. It was strange to see his facial muscles do that. He was sure he'd never looked sympathetic before in his life. "The more Youma battles we have, the stronger and closer together the dreams."

He thought back to a few weeks before when they'd fought several a day for nearly a week and shuddered. Usagi hadn't really looked any different, but having seen her face reflected back at him in the mirror this morning he could now recognize the pinched look around her lips. He'd been especially harsh with her one morning when she'd bumped him and he'd spilled his coffee on the ground.

Sensing the direction of his thoughts she gave him a look. "Don't!"

"Don't what?"

"Don't pity me, or start treating me different." She huffed.

He shrugged and looked over at her. "Only if you promise the same," he said finally.

She looked at him curiously. "Why would I treat you differently, or pity you?"

He shrugged again, but she continued to stare at him, and stopped walking when he didn't answer. Finally he stopped and turned to her, feeling uncomfortable. "Because I don't have a family," he mumbled.

She reached out and put a large hand on his shoulder. "I already knew that," she said, her voice soft and quiet. A tone he was sure he'd never had. "I can sympathize, but I don't pity you." She turned and started walking again. He heaved a thankful breath.

"How did you know?"

"Overheard you talking to Motoki once," she shrugged. "I wasn't as surprised as you might think." Then she gave a grin. "If I hadn't known before, your apartment would have given you away."

"What's wrong with my apartment?" He huffed and gave her a glare but she only giggled.

"It's too empty, and WAY too clean, sort of institutional." She rolled her eyes. "I didn't know it was possible to be that neat. No wonder Motoki thinks you have OCD."

He laughed, glad the mood had lightened. "I bet if you spend any time there it wont be neat anymore."

"Exactly," she said. "Um, I should probably tell you what to expect with my family." Her grin faded slightly. "My mom is alright, except when I fail a test. She kicks me out of the house if I do, and then my brother sits in front of the window and eats in front of my face. He can be a real pain. His name is Shingo, and he thinks it's his only goal in life to prank me, so watch out for that. My dad..." she looked over at him. "He thinks I'm still three, I think. Won't let any boys near me, and sort of makes me feel like he thinks I'm too stupid to make any choices on my own."

She shrugged uncomfortably. "I thought maybe we could ask Ami to call and ask if I could spend the night at her house, and that way you don't have to deal with them, but it's a Sunday night, and I'm pretty sure they'll say no, so I figure just stay out until curfew, which is 9:30 on a school night." Another shrug.

Mamoru wasn't sure what to say. He figured they couldn't be as bad as being alone all the time, but then he'd learned a lot by spending just the morning as her. He never would have imagined how much pain she was hiding, and now that he realized just how hard Rei was on her, as well as Mars, he was pretty sure she had spent the last month or so completely miserable.

"So I was thinking we could stop at the arcade and get some lunch, then go to the festival," he said, changing the subject.

"Is that a good idea?"

"What?"

"How will Motoki react to seeing us together?"

Mamoru shrugged. "He'll have to get over it. I need food!" He could hear the whine in his voice and had to chuckle.

"I suggest a triple chocolate shake," she said. Then grimaced, remembering that she would be forced to drink more coffee.

"Tell him you lost a bet with me and get one too," Mamoru suggested. She laughed.

* * *

Usagi smiled at Motoki, who gave her a strange look before she remembered she was in Mamoru's body. She gave a small frown as she tried to remember just how Mamoru acted. She couldn't do it right, she knew, but she could at least attempt a happy medium.

"Lost a bet with the Odango, Motoki," she said, trying to get the inflection right. "I have to be nice and smile for a whole day."

Motoki grinned at both of them, then gave Mamoru, who was in her body, a high five. It was strange watching the way he was with her from a different perspective. She'd felt the same when she'd watched Rei light into Mamoru at the temple. Motoki did treat her like a favored little sister. It was odd for her thinking back, because he didn't quite act the same toward Rei or Ami, though he was protective of them. She wondered why.

"I'm taking him back to the festival too," Mamoru said, trying to sound conspiratorial. The two of them would have to do a bit more work on that. His voice was too high pitched, which made it sound like she was hiding something.

"So, what kind of bet did you lose?" Motoki turned to Usagi and it took a second to remember she was supposed to be Mamoru, and even longer to remember about the bet. Luckily Mamoru stepped in with an extremely fake giggle.

"He bet me I couldn't climb the tree in the park. If I lost I was supposed to wear a sign that said I was "The Odango Atama," for a whole day. If I won he had to be nice and smile and do what I wanted for a whole day."

Usagi hid her sigh of relief, thankful to Mamoru for his quick thinking. It did sound like one of the stupid arguments they might have, so she hoped it would work. She was surprised when Motoki glared at her.

"What if she'd fallen and gotten hurt? Hmm? Do you always have to be so childish around her?" Usagi gaped at the blonde standing over her.

"Uh, gomen nasai." She muttered in what she hoped was a good impression of Mamoru.

She heard her own voice giggling and looked across the table to see Mamoru covering her mouth with both hands, a shocked look on his... er... her face. Ahhh! This was so confusing!

* * *

When the two of them arrived at the festival Mamoru couldn't help but stare. Everything looked so different from a shorter perspective. Usagi topped out at 4'11 while in his own body he was 6'2. An amazing difference even before considering his muscle mass. To say things looked bigger was an understatement. It was still daylight, for which he was grateful, because it was easier to see where they were going. The line for the House of Mirrors was extremely long and as his stomach, or Usagi's, was rumbling in hunger again, he suggested they hit some of the snack vendors before they went to wait.

He began to feel a little ashamed of his actions the night before. One incident he remembered in particular was a moment when Usagi had hidden close behind him, almost crushing herself to his back in fear of a man who was passing out cotton candy. The clown costume wasn't that frightening and he'd laughed at her and teased her for being such a wimp. Now though, he could understand her fear. It wasn't about the clown makeup or costume at all, but rather the way the man's eyes roved over Usagi's body, which, unfortunately, he was currently residing in.

Usagi, carrying his much larger frame, wrapped an arm around Mamoru and pulled him up against her, hiding him from the man's sight. He breathed a sigh of relief, and for what seemed like the millionth time that day, had to wonder at how awful he'd been to her. "Gomen," he whispered but she just shook her head.

"You wouldn't have understood. It's okay. My mom says boys don't really know until they see it." She sighed, and it moved him that he had so underestimated her. "Honestly, I could have fought him off if he'd tried something. I just felt like..." she trailed off.

Mamoru could understand. "You needed a bath," he finished with a shudder.

"Exactly."

The two of them grabbed a few chili-dogs in little paper cups and made their way to the line. Mamoru held a tall drink, this time a cola with heavy caffeine, against him, hoping he wouldn't drop it. It was difficult to maneuver the food and drink at the same time, and with Usagi's much less graceful body to work with, he wondered if he wouldn't end up making a rather large mess. Usagi on the other hand, seemed to have no problem balancing even in his much larger frame.

"I really think it has to do with moon gravity," Mamoru said as they reached the back of the line.

"I think it's puberty. Awful in so many ways. I was actually pretty graceful as a kid. I shot up almost a foot in about a year though." She giggled, and again Mamoru had to note how strange it sounded.

"Really?"

"Yeah. I don't know how bad it is for boys, but even my bones hurt. It was awful. And I was way too thin. Had to have special shakes and everything." She shuddered delicately and he had to laugh. Every normal behavior she had made his body look silly.

They talked quietly as they moved up the line, and spent much of the time laughing. There were trashcans and he went to throw away their empty containers. Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, the two of them were let into the hall. Usagi seemed to remember the path well. She led them across the shifting platform and through the mirror maze to the strange door. With one quick twist she turned the knob and they were staring into the room they'd been forced into the night before.

It was exactly the same, except there were no flashing lights, and there was no man. They spent several minutes in there, calling out for him, but no one appeared. Eventually they had to make their way out, and the two of them went to the other end of the festival to sit under a couple shady trees and talk about their next step.

* * *

A shrill beeping startled Mamoru. He pulled the communicator out of his pocket and saw the blue button was glowing. Usagi told him to press it and when he did Mercury appeared on the little screen.

"Hey, um, we have a Youma, down by the canal. How far away are you." Mamoru turned to look at Usagi. She reached for the communicator and he handed it over gladly.

"I think," she said after a second, "if I carry Mamoru the way he normally does me, we could be there in seven minutes or so. Can you two hold out until then?"

"I hope so." The screen went blank. They moved into a secluded area and transformed. Sailor Moon instantly noticed the decrease in pain in his abdomen, but didn't have time to mention it as he had been scooped into Tuxedo Kamen's arms, the cape fluttering behind them as she took off at a run.

"Rooftops," he yelled when it appeared she would stay on the ground. "Much faster."

"Really? Hadn't thought of that!" And with a grin, Sailor Moon leaped for the roof of the nearest building. It was three floors up, but the jump was made with ease. "This is awesome." She said, not even out of breath. "I think only three minutes this way." Sailor Moon's estimate was right. They used their few minutes to remind each other how to attack.

The Youma was a strange amalgamation of Halloween decorations. Fake bats and glittery spiders and a lot of candy corn. He could hear the voice of Tuxedo Kamen, slightly high pitched than normal yell out "yuck," as he dodged in and set Sailor Moon on the ground.

Mars and Mercury had, by this point, been fighting the monster for nearly five minutes, and it was a little worse for wear, but so were the two Senshi. Sailor Moon swaggered forward, grabbed the tiara off his head and hollered, "Moon Tiara Action," at the top of his voice. He threw it like a Frisbee, and it missed. A moment later Tuxedo Kamen had to pull him out of the way of deadly candy corn projectiles.

The caped hero was holding a steel tipped rose in her hand, waiting for a chance to strike. Mars threw an attack, which the Youma dodged, but while it was distracted Tuxedo Kamen threw the rose. It was a direct hit to a black sparkly kitty cat with it's back arched and it's fur out. Nothing happened other than an angry yell from the strange creature.

"Okay, now Sailor Moon," she called gently to the smaller hero. "Think through the attack. It will go where you want it to." But before the tiara could even be charged, both of them were dodging another attack, this one from behind them, as a second Youma approached, this one in the shape of a ghost. Then a second later it became a witch, then a werewolf. It must have been created from costumes.

In the body of Tuxedo Kamen, Usagi could feel the same sort of power she often felt when she in Sailor Moon form. There was a strange feeling welling up, and she wondered if perhaps there was a form of magic that could do as he wanted as well. She carefully thought it out, and decided there had to be a way to contain both the Youma so the final blow could be given.

Pulling another rose Tuxedo Kamen willed what she wanted into it and threw it at the ground between the two Youma. A moment later there was what felt like an explosion of energy as thick, thorny green vines shot from the earth and easily caught both creatures, wrapping tightly around them until they were trapped, lying on the concrete, waiting for the final blow.

She turned to look at Sailor Moon and almost screamed. He was bleeding from an injury to the abdomen. She rushed to him without thought, falling to her knees next to the tiny body, and placed a hand over the wound. She thought wildly for some way to heal the injury, and a moment later thick golden sparks and warm heat were flowing out of her hand and into Sailor Moon.

Both of them gasped. Two new tricks in one day was unheard of for either of the superheroes. Tuxedo Kamen smiled when Sailor Moon jumped up and removed the tiara for the second time. "Moon Tiara Action," he said, in a much quieter voice, and she noticed he was trying to copy her normal motions. Not particularly well, but it was better than nothing. The tiara decapitated both Youma, and they became dust.

He turned to Tuxedo Kamen. "That was different," he said, and pulled off his glove. Large, angry red blisters covered his palm and fingers. "Lets see if that healing thing works again." Mars and Mercury crowded around, staring at the injured hand and then up at Tuxedo Kamen. She willed herself to heal the hand as she had the other injury, and golden sparks and warmth erupted from her hand again.

"Wow!" Mercury breathed, looking at the spectacle through the Mercury computer lens that hung over her eyes. "This is incredible. Look at these readings!" And without another word she shoved the computer into Sailor Moon's hand, and Tuxedo Kamen got the distinct impression that he was very curious and was getting lost in the data. The two talked over the readings for several minutes.

Meanwhile Tuxedo Kamen was staring at Mars, who refused to look up from the ground. Silence hung thick between the two of them, but the other girl simply didn't try, so Tuxedo Mask turned away with a sigh. She'd really hoped Mamoru's words would have gotten through to her friend.

* * *

**Lessons Learned**  
**Chapter Five**  
**To Walk A Mile**

* * *

A call came in on Usagi's phone and it took Mamoru several seconds to process the fact that he had to answer it and pretend to be her. He gave her one panicked look as she unlocked it for him, then said a tense, "hello?"

"Hey Odango, mom says get home for dinner!" There was a sound of someone blowing a raspberry and then the call ended.

"Shimatta!" Usagi exclaimed. "Well, you'll just have to do your best. Try not to talk too much, and only answer questions if you are sure about the answer. Otherwise say you don't know or haven't decided. Um..." Usagi trailed off as the two of them headed in the direction of her house.

Mamoru realized Usagi had no idea he knew where she lived, and he wasn't about to tell her he'd walked behind her half a dozen times or more to make sure she got home safe after dark. It wasn't something he let himself think about. If he thought about it, he would have to examine his reasons for doing so, and he wasn't prepared for that.

As they neared her home, Usagi wildly spoke of anything from her grades, which were much better than he'd actually imagined, and school activities, to sleep overs and her friend Naru, who she didn't get to see much of anymore. She was giving him a crash course in her life and he tried to listen. Walking next to her was interesting, especially being in her body. He must have tripped a dozen times, but each time she reached out and steadied him without so much as a thought.

It took him a while to realize he'd often done the same for her when he was in his own body. Not just as Usagi, but also as Sailor Moon. It gave him a lot to think about. Especially when he added in the blonde princess in his dreams. The one who was always on the balcony asking for his help. What were the odds that three blondes with the same strange hairstyle would appear in his life? Not high. He was becoming more and more certain that Usagi was the princess in his dreams.

She just didn't know it.

"Oh, and one last thing," she said, and he turned to look up at her. "If Naru calls you excited about anything, and I do mean anything at all, go with her if you can. She is an absolute magnet for Youma. If it's new and she wants to try it you can almost bet there is Negaverse activity. If you can't get away, you call me as soon as possible and tell me where she's headed."

Mamoru laughed, even though it was a serious issue, because he too had noticed the redhead's propensity to find herself in danger. "Got it. You're a good friend to have Usagi. I'm glad you became mine."

They parted at the street corner, Usagi pointing the house out to him and reminding him not to knock, which was a good thing because he probably would have without even thinking about it. He squared his shoulders and made his way up the short path.

* * *

Holding the key to Mamoru's apartment in one hand, Usagi trudged toward the building. It was just getting dark, and she would be spending far more time alone that she had imagined. A storm was brewing, one of the quick ones that appeared and disappeared within an hour or two, but brought thunder and lightning and wind. She wasn't looking forward to it.

She entered the building and went for the elevator with a half-hearted wave to the security guard at the desk. Her mind ran through possibilities as the elevator lifted her to his floor. Once she was inside she pulled out her cell, only to realize it was actually his and didn't have Rei or Ami's numbers. He also had her communicator, which left Usagi utterly alone.

It wasn't like she could just show up at Ami's apartment or the temple and hang out. She was in Mamoru's body and people would get the wrong idea. She sniffled, trying to be brave, then went and turned on his television. His apartment was far too quiet. She didn't sit, just moved around looking at his books and the impersonal wall art. She didn't explore his bedroom or anywhere else, as she thought that would have been rude.

It took a while to find something to eat. Usagi wasn't exactly an experienced cook. She settled for a premade dinner she could pop in the microwave. She sat at the dining room table, watching the television as she ate. Even with the TV on, the place was just too quiet. She wondered if the walls and floors were sound proofed. She couldn't hear anything from any of the other apartments.

It was different being at home. Even in her room, with the door closed, she could hear the sounds of her family. Her father's fingers typing away on the keys of his laptop. Her mother cooking, cleaning, sewing, or working on one of her amazing arts and crafts projects. Her brother Shingo would have his Sailor V game on, playing the sound loud, and his occasional howls or shouts or the sound of his hands or feet hitting the ground in frustration would echo through the house.

She sat and watched the television, but her mind wandered to Mamoru's lonely existence. No family. His only friends were Motoki and... her. And how odd was it to learn he considered her a friend? She'd always just assumed he hated her. Of course the day had been an odd one. But was one day enough to make a relationship like theirs into a friendship?

For her part, she'd only ever told others he was her arch-nemesis. She'd never really believed it. Sure, they argued, but most of the time it was playful. Sometimes she could almost hear affection in his voice when he called her Odango Atama. Dumpling head. She grinned. She wondered if he realized he'd shortened the name to just Odango. And in some places, dumpling was a pet name. A snort cut through the silence.

She grabbed the remote and switched channels. There had to be something on that would keep her mind busy enough not to think. She was entering dangerous territory. Places she never let herself think. She wanted a chocolate shake. And his body obviously needed caffeine. She checked the time, not really enough time to visit the arcade. She went back to the kitchen and threw her trash away under the sink.

She brewed the coffee and stirred in as much milk and sugar as she could stand. It was almost palatable that way. She'd seen ice cream in his freezer and hoped he didn't mind her stealing some. She'd get him more as soon as this mess was over.

* * *

Mamoru sat quietly at the dinner table, unsure what to do. Usagi had given him instructions, but these people were nothing like he expected. When he'd gotten into the house he'd gone up the stairs to Usagi's bedroom, and had hidden there until he'd been called down. But now he was supposed to interact with them, and he didn't know how. He couldn't remember his parents. Was he supposed to call them mom and dad? Mommy and daddy? Ma and Pa? He hadn't thought to ask.

He wanted to have a cup of coffee. He wanted to hurry through the meal and run to Usagi's room and hide. Or, better yet, he wanted to sneak out and go hang out with Usagi at his place, where he knew what to expect.

"Yo, Odango brains, pay attention." said the brown haired boy to his left. Shingo. Apparently the boy liked to play pranks on Usagi. He'd learned many pranks at the orphanage. Many had been pulled on him in his younger years, and then as he'd grown he'd become the master. He wondered if maybe he could do Usagi a favor and get the kid back for her.

"What do you need?" he asked in a polite tone. Everyone stared at him. Crap. He forgot to use Usagi's tone to the bratty kid. "Squirt," he added under his breath as an afterthought.

Now everyone focused on their food again. Mamoru breathed a sigh of relief.

"I want to trade chores with you for tomorrow." Shingo said. "I have an extra practice I didn't know about and I don't have time to sort the recycling. I want you to do it and let me take out the trash instead."

"Sorry, I don't have time tomorrow either," Mamoru said. "Maybe you could do it tonight."

"I don't want to do it tonight, and anyways, what could you possibly have to do? You're too stupid to be in any clubs or anything."

Mamoru wanted to throttle the little twerp. He looked across the table to Usagi's parents, who were just sitting there eating like nothing untoward was happening. Apparently Usagi had much thicker skin than he'd realized.

"I have plans to study with a friend. He offered to help me with my math. I can't pass up free tutoring." He shrugged as though it were no big deal, hoping that Usagi's father wouldn't freak.

"You're too stupid to pass even if you did study," Shingo said, his mouth full, which disgusted Mamoru. At least when Usagi ate like crazy she finished her food before speaking.

Mamoru waited for one of Usagi's parents and tell Shingo he was going too far. When they didn't he looked over at them. Ikuko had a far away look, as though she wasn't really paying attention. Kenji seemed annoyed.

"Look Shingo, if you want to do it tonight, I'll help you, but I am not switching chores." After that, though Shingo hurled more insults and complained, he refused to listen.

Finally, Ikuko looked up and ordered the boy to stop. Mamoru was grateful. He finished his food and asked to be excused.

"No," Kenji said. "I want to know more about this 'friend,'" He gave Mamoru a strange look.

With a sigh, Mamoru said. "His name is Chiba Mamoru. He's an honors student in his last year of high school. He's good with math and English, but has been teasing me about my grades. I yelled at him and said if he was so smart, he should help me. So he did, and it worked. I understood. That's it."

He was forced however, to sit through a forty minute lecture on the evils of boys and had to promise not to let the evil boy get anywhere near him before it was allowed. When he was finally released from the table he took his plate to the sink, rinsed it, and put it in the dishwasher.

Ikuko stood up then, following him, and gave him a hug, whispering that she was sorry. He hugged back, awkwardly at first, but within a few seconds found it to be the most comforting feeling in the world. A simple hug. He could barely speak after that and went to hide in Usagi's room.

He'd never really known what he was missing. He didn't even remember his parents. Perhaps because of that he was unsure what a motherly hug was supposed to feel like, and what he had just experienced left him feeling both happy and sad. Happy, because it had been kind and comforting and loving, something he'd never really known, and sad, because once he and Usagi switched back, he would never experience it again.

He took out Usagi's cell phone and called his own.

"Oh it so good to hear another person's voice!" Usagi exclaimed. She'd answered after only two rings. He chuckled.

"So, you and I are studying tomorrow," he told her, and informed her of everything that had been said.

Usagi laughed and launched into a story about her father chasing away a boy who'd come to ask her out. Her father had chased him down the street with garden shears screaming that his baby bunny was too good for the boy. They laughed over that too. They talked for a while before he asked about his master plan for the morning. He didn't want to hang up, and it was obvious she didn't either, but eventually he said goodnight.

* * *

The night had been long, and awful. With the exception of the half hour spent on the phone with Mamoru, she had been miserable and lonely. Talking on the phone with him had reminded her of talking with Naru, whom she suddenly missed desperately. In frustration, she'd gone to bed immediately after hanging up. She'd tossed and turned for a while, but eventually had been lulled to sleep by his familiar scent on the pillows.

The feeling Mamoru had described that morning had come over her at 1:17 am according to Mamoru's alarm. She sighed as she got up and launched herself from his balcony, making her way to where she felt the tug in her chest.

Usagi, sitting in a tree as Tuxedo Kamen a few minutes later, watched the fight with a fresh perspective. Mamoru had explained his need to find and protect her, the draw he felt every time she was in danger, but this was the first time she'd felt it for herself. Their last battle she'd been next to him. This time he'd arrived, as Sailor Moon, before she'd made it halfway.

The draw was strong, and intense. There was a need to protect the smaller warrior that was hard to understand. It was as though if something happened to Sailor Moon the light would go out of the world. She could feel a bit of hesitancy and fear coming through the bond. It didn't make much sense, but it was what it was. She shrugged, and continued to watch.

Sailor Mars barely dodged an attack, screaming at Sailor Moon to hurry up and defeat the Youma. Mercury was searching her computer, trying to find the weak spot. She wasn't paying attention to her surroundings and nearly got fried. A strange feeling overwhelmed Usagi. It reminded her of what she'd felt the first time she'd fought, when Luna had simply told her to use the tiara. She'd been frustrated when no further instructions had come.

Now, that feeling that there was something she could do welled up in her chest, and a moment later Tuxedo Kamen had leapt from the tree, landing lightly next to Sailor Moon. There was a pressure in her chest and then she threw out her hands with a cry of "Tuxedo la Smoking Bomber!" Grey smoke and a flash followed and the Youma fell, nearly incapacitated.

Sailor Moon, standing by in awe, took another shot with the tiara, this time getting the stance down almost perfectly as he tossed the discus-like weapon and decapitated the Youma.

"Perfect," Tuxedo Kamen hissed. "Much better on the stance, perfect release, great shot." She congratulated him.

"What was that," Sailor Moon breathed.

She shrugged. "I don't know. It felt like when I used the Twilight Flash for the first time, like it was something that had to be done. A feeling in your chest, different than the bond." She tried to explain. "So I did it."

Mars and Mercury had come over while they talked. "That was pretty awesome," Mars said. "I didn't know he could do that."

Usagi nodded, "he didn't either. We fought side by side for months, and I only knew about the roses and the stick... cane... thing."

"He'll have to come practice with us when you guys get back in your right bodies." Mercury said. "By the way, I'm really sorry." The bluenette blushed and gave a small bow, her eyes downcast. "You've always been so nice to me, and I don't even deserve it."

"Me too," Mars said. "I don't think we ever realized what was going on. Luna had Mercury run some scans on you... well, technically him, but he's in you so you. Anyways, she said you've been having those dreams at least since you met her. We didn't know they were causing you pain. And he's right about something else too. You really have improved, and we have no reason to judge you. No right either," she amended a second later.

"You are the strongest of us," Mercury said, her toe scraping the ground. "And you really have gotten so much better even since I've known you."

"You should have seen her first fight," Sailor Moon said. "She had no idea how to fight. Luna only said something about the tiara. She'd already been dodging that thing for about five minutes by then." He laughed. "And then Luna says to use the tiara, and it was just like tonight. It was all instinct, I think. Like she knew something from inside."

"He had to save me though, and I tripped over my own feet several times. Almost ran right into the Youma. Good times," she added sarcastically, and got a laugh out of everyone, breaking the tension.

"So we were thinking tomorrow we can meet after school and go to the festival and try again," Mercury said quietly.

"Sounds good." Tuxedo Kamen's voice was a slightly deeper timbre than Mamoru's she noted as she spoke. "Can you make sure he does okay in school tomorrow? Keep him acting a bit like me?"

Mercury nodded and they broke apart to find places to release their henshin. Usagi got lost on the way back to Mamoru's apartment and almost went into the wrong building. She finally had to go down to street level and walk to the front door of the building. She took the elevator up instead. It was strange walking around in sweats, but the security guard didn't seem to notice.

It took a while to fall back asleep.

* * *

He was up on time, and dressed for the day, brooch on his bow and wearing a skirt, which took some getting used to. He wondered how girls did it. He'd implemented his evil plan and waited for it to succeed. He'd even gone downstairs and had a bit of breakfast. He could tell Ikuko had an inkling that something was up because she gave him a conspiratorial wink.

He was waiting so long he was afraid he would be late to school, and he had to meet up with Ami. Finally he heard the screams and hollering. Ikuko gave him a high five and he laughed, then grabbed the bags of trash and took them out before he left for the day. He ran down the street, trying to pay attention and not have an accident.

He fell anyways. Twice.

He wasn't sure what the public high school would be like. And he had already finished tenth grade and wasn't keen to repeat it. Ami was waiting at the gate, as promised, and they walked into the class together.

"So what has you grinning this morning?" she asked.

"You know how Shingo is always pulling pranks on Usagi?" She nodded and he continued. "Well last night he was being a total brat, and while I was busy ignoring him I came up with an evil plan." He laughed then. "So right after we got back from the Youma fight I went into his room and put tacks in his walls, all at a level just above him when he's sleeping on the bed. Then I took strings and crisscrossed the room dozens and dozens of times, trapping him in the bed, and making it nearly impossible to get to the door."

Ami laughed until she started snorting, then covered her face and blushed. "Does Usagi know?" she asked, still giggling.

"Yeah, she helped me decide which prank to pull. I wanted to do the plastic wrap on the toilet seat but she said her mom would have had to clean it, or I would, and that would have been gross, plus her mom is nice, so we went with this. I took a bunch of pictures on her cell phone so she'll get to see it."

They got to the classroom with three minutes to spare, and Mamoru turned in Usagi's homework in the basket Ami pointed out to him. He'd checked it over that morning when he'd had a few extra minutes. She'd done well on everything but math. She seemed to be having problems there, and he promised himself he really would start helping her.

He'd also texted Usagi a few pictures he'd taken of the morning prank. He was quite proud of how much he'd gotten done that morning, and all without coffee. He was just thankful there hadn't been another nightmare.

The teacher came into the class. Ami told him her name was Haruna-sensei, but he actually recognized her from when he'd investigated a couple of mysterious sleeping sickness cases. She only saw Usagi of course, and he thought she looked faint.

"You're here early Usagi-san," she said with a smile.

"I had a good morning," he told her. "For once my brother didn't prank me. I got him instead."

"Oh, how?" She looked excited. "I have four sisters," she added. "Our prank wars were epic."

Mamoru launched into the story and she laughed, as well as the other students who had already arrived. There was a test paper handed back. This one in English, and Usagi had received an 82. He was quite proud of her. He showed it to Ami who gave him a thumbs up. He noticed people often turned to Usagi for help and for class discussion on strange or bizarre topics.

At lunch, he and Ami met up with Naru and Umino. The girl was all excited about a new pet store that would be opening. Having had experience with the last pet store, and also remembering what Usagi said, he shot her a text to let her know Naru wanted to go.

The afternoon dragged, and he continuously had to remind himself to play the part. After a while it seemed to get easier, but he knew he would never be as outgoing as Usagi. Although it would be nice to have more friends. He really did like Naru and even Umino, though he tended to pop up out of nowhere ad startle everyone.

* * *

Usagi woke to find a text on Mamoru's phone. _Go ahead and take a sick day._

Usagi sighed. Maybe she would. She got dressed quickly and washed her hair over the kitchen sink instead of taking a shower. She knew it wasn't the best, but there was no way she wanted to see Mamoru naked. She'd never get the image out of her head. It was bad enough she'd been struggling with her crush on him for months. If she saw him naked she'd always be thinking about it when she saw him, and she'd go insane inside a week, knowing she couldn't have him.

Instead of going to his classes, or going anywhere she was used to seeing him, she went to the mall. She took his green blazer with her and found a similar one in black and another in a blue that matched his eyes exactly. She purchased them without so much as a qualm. Then she sat down with a manga she'd purchased for herself to a lunch of fast food.

She still had a bit of time to wait before she could meet with the others. As she was sitting there, she saw a shop that did photo enlargement and had an idea.

* * *

**Lessons Learned**  
**Chapter Six**  
**Whole Heart**

* * *

Mamoru couldn't wait to see Usagi and tell her all about his... er... her day. Ami and Rei got there before she did though. He was still a bit angry with them for treating his little Usako badly. _'What! When did I started thinking about her that way?'_ Mamoru shook his head, watching the long streamers of blonde hair flutter around him as he did. She really did have beautiful hair. He ran his fingers through it. It was just so soft. Of course, he knew her soul was the most beautiful thing about her.

The day had been a good one, though the afternoon had dragged as he grew more and more impatient to see Usagi. Ami pointed suddenly and Mamoru looked over to see Usagi... well, him, running towards them.

"Sorry! Sorry," she called out. "I was at the mall and I thought I was done and then I saw something and I just had to get it for you and it took longer to get it done than I thought it would, and then the lady was showing me something to put it in and I just couldn't resist blowing a couple of them up, and then I had to drop them off at your place because I couldn't bring the bags with me and..." she cut off when Mamoru put a hand over her mouth.

"It's fine. I promise. The girls and I just got here," he lied.

Usagi raised a brow at him. He laughed. She knew he was lying of course. How could she not when she always tended to be late?

"Okay, so it was the House of Mirrors right?" Rei asked, changing the subject.

"Yeah, there's a room in there and someone shoved us into it," Usagi started, and she retold the story as they walked.

"So how do we find this guy?"

"I'm still not sure," Mamoru said. "I just think we have to try."

They ended up taking a bus. The four of them sat along the back bench, talking and laughing. Mamoru was amazed at just how quickly and completely Usagi had forgiven the others. He wasn't sure how long it would take him, but he knew he wasn't there yet. With Usagi's example he tried his best to be friendly and outgoing.

Ami talked about a new cram school she wanted to go to. Rei and Usagi both groaned. She looked a bit surprised that they weren't interested.

Rei had a dozen ideas for Halloween costumes for Motoki's party. He'd been throwing a party at the arcade since the two of them had been in middle school. Mamoru smiled at the thought. Rei wanted to go as Little Red Riding Hood, or perhaps Joan of Arc, or maybe a ballerina. Mamoru stopped listening after that. Instead he focused on what he'd like to see Usagi wear. He thought the idea was perfect for her, and after a while he couldn't stop himself from blurting it out.

"Rapunzel." He lifted a long lock of blonde hair and swished it over Usagi's face. "That's what you should go as."

Usagi gave a belly laugh, which he liked the sound of. He wondered if he'd ever laughed like that. His face seemed more open, and he looked so happy. He wanted to try and look happy when he was back in his body. He was starting to think the only way that would happen was if he had Usagi by his side. All day, every day. Forever.

Mamoru let out a tiny sigh at the thought, and hid a smile. He would just have to convince her to be his girlfriend once they'd gotten their own bodies back. It would be far too awkward now.

"So, tell me more about this pet shop Naru wants to visit," Usagi said as they stepped off the bus. The festival was just down the street and they walked slowly so he could give her all the details, Ami adding in bits and pieces as they went.

"Can I just ask," Rei started, "how have we not given that girl a communicator yet? I mean she needs a panic button at least. I swear it's like all the good people seem to attract the baddies."

"A panic button?" Ami said, and they could see the wheels in her head turning. "You know, we could do something like that for certain people." She hummed under her breath and pulled out the Mercury computer.

* * *

Usagi wanted to scream. She missed being in her own body and Mamoru being in his. She missed his sardonic grins and the way he would raise one eyebrow at her when she said something silly. She wanted to feel the little tug when he would play with her hair without realizing it. She liked his suggestion for a Halloween costume. It was obvious he was a bit obsessed with her hair.

She'd been thinking about him all day. When she'd come up with the idea for his surprise it had hit her like a ton of bricks. She was totally and completely, hopelessly head over heels in love with Chiba Mamoru. And she was beginning to suspect he liked her much more than he'd wanted to admit. She'd seen evidence of it with her own eyes when she was working on his present.

They were standing in line at the House of Mirrors, this time a much less argumentative group. Especially since Rei was busy with a root beer float, and Usagi had been daydreaming about Mamoru.

"We have to teach Motoki how to make these," Rei said, licking the spoon before attacking her straw like it was the last drink on a dying planet. Usagi couldn't help but laugh. Until Rei put the spoon in her mouth. Heaven. She was in heaven. She took a sip of the root beer, which had the leavings of the ice cream through it. It was rich and creamy and wonderful.

"You are absolutely right Rei." Usagi said, hand in the air as she found her newest quest for justice. "It isn't right that no one has gotten to taste this delicious treat!"

They all laughed and Mamoru murmured, "Shall we punish them?" Usagi wanted to just lay down and die laughing. She rarely got to hear him joke like that. Normally his jokes were more sarcastic in nature.

Rei threw away the now empty cup and they moved to the front of the line. A minute later they were allowed in. Rei and Ami squealed and scrambled over some of the obstacles she and Mamoru had already grown accustomed to. Mamoru led the way to the door and when they opened it and went inside, they found him.

He was standing quietly, holding a book in one hand and his spinning figures in the other.

"I cannot do what you've come to ask me," he said before any of them could speak. "You are already so close, both of you. You've met two of the three requirements. Only one is left."

"Requirements?" Mamoru asked.

"For finding harmony with one another." The man frowned and pointed to a mirror. "What do you see when you look at the girl now? Do you see a child with no responsibilities, or a young woman with the weight of the world on her shoulders, who often faces criticism and lacks self-esteem? You've learned to see her as a person, and therefore care for her as a person. You are friends."

He smiled as he turned to Usagi. "And when you look at him, do you still see someone who has no pressure or do you see a man who wants to help and heal but who has never had the support he needs or friends to call upon? You see him as he is, and therefore care for him as he is. He is your friend."

There is but one step left. After you Understand, after you Love, you must still be Honest. Without honesty, no roots can grow. Do you see? If you want the spell to end, you must be honest with one another. Tell the truth and it will set you free. I promise.

The lights came up to blind the four of them. When they could see again, the man was gone. They searched, but there was no trace.

* * *

Minako grinned as she pulled out her disguise pen and changed into herself again. She really didn't like being an old man, but when something this important had to be done, she knew there was no skimping on the role. She moved quickly through the festival, looking around her with bright blue eyes. As soon as she reached the parking area Artemis jumped down and landed on her shoulder. The little white cat with the crescent moon mark was her guide, her advisor.

"How did they look today?" he asked.

"Much better. You know she spent most of her day doing things for him? It was really sweet. Anyways, I got to help her pick out part of one of his presents, and I think he's going to love it."

"Okay, but how do you think the test is going?"

"Perfectly. Two steps down, one to go. As soon as they're done they will have met all the Venusian challenges, and I'm sure it wont be long before they're dating. After that, who knows."

"Well I just hope they get to it soon," Artemis huffed. "Stubborn Royals," he added. "Who would have thought it would be so difficult to get the prince and princess back together."

"It's a good thing I'm the Senshi of Love and Justice," Minako whispered.

* * *

Mamoru and Usagi separated from the others and walked towards her house. He kept stealing glances over at her, wondering what secret she was hiding from him. He noticed she was doing the same, and blushing.

"So," she said, and he looked up at her to see her face scrunched up. "Who should go first?"

"I don't know. Me I guess."

"I can do it of you really don't want to." She blushed again.

Mamoru smiled at her. She was fiddling with the silky black hair that had fallen over her eyes. "No, I'll go."

He tried to find the right words. "Seriously Usagi, I never knew what you were going through, I never understood you because I didn't bother to try. I just picked on you all the time. Mostly because it was easy to get a rise out of you. You're also really cute when you're angry." He ducked his head and the long pigtails hit the ground. "And then, I started feeling attracted to you, and it was easier to hide it behind the banter than to face it."

Usagi smiled at him. He had to admit it looked strange on his face. He never really smiled. She ducked her head, like she always did, but since he was more than a foot shorter in his present condition, he could see the blush. And the emotions swirling in her eyes.

"I um..." She moved one foot, grinding the toe into the dirt. "I always just assumed you were mean because you hated me. But I was rude back because I didn't want to like you." The blush deepened, the toe grinding continued.

"Usagi," he whispered. "I never hated you." He sighed. "If I'm being honest, I'm halfway in love with you and it scares the hell out of me."

"Mamoru," she breathed. "I've... I uh... I..." She swallowed. "I'm in love with you already," she whispered finally.

There was a blinding flash of light and the two of them were thrown backwards. Mamoru stood quickly, searching for the Youma that had attacked them. He reached out to help Usagi up. And in that moment, he realized what had happened. He was back in his own body.

"Oh thank Kami-sama!" he heard her whisper, and then she had launched herself at him, giving him a giant hug. He wrapped his arms tightly around the petite blonde and held tight. The two of them started jumping up and down in the street, happily yelling, until they noticed people giving them disapproving frowns. They calmed and stood still and he put an arm around her shoulder. For a long time they just stood there, enjoying not only being with each other, but being in their own bodies.

They heard a girl's laughter from somewhere nearby and parted hastily. Mamoru noticed Usagi was blushing, the setting sun making her cheeks even rosier. "You're beautiful when you blush," he admitted.

She gave him a smile and he moved towards her again, putting a hand on her cheek. "Usagi, I don't want this to stop just because we're back in our own bodies. I really care about you. I want to be your friend and perhaps your boyfriend when you're ready."

"Me too," she whispered. She looked up at him, her blue eyes wide and shining with emotion. "I love you. I've been ready for a while I think."

He bent slightly, wrapping one arm around her waist and sliding the hand on her cheek to the back of her neck. He lifted her just slightly and gently met her lips with his own. She tasted like candy, and he thought he could become addicted to that. He kept the pressure light, but ran his tongue over her bottom lip. When she opened for him he feasted on her, enjoying her taste and the duel with her tongue. It was sweet and simple and beautiful. He pulled back slowly, ending with a few small chaste kisses before he pulled back, still holding her tight.

"Wow," she breathed.

"Wow," he agreed.

He finally released her, but took her hand in his and they walked together. He led the way towards her house. "You know," he admitted, "I actually knew where you lived." When she looked up at him, he blushed. "Sometimes you would be out really late, and I would just want to make sure you got home safe, so I would follow you." He really hoped she didn't turn and call him a stalker.

"That's really sweet," she said, then tugged on his arm, and standing on the tips of her toes, pressed a gentle kiss to his cheek.

"I want to meet your father. As myself," he amended.

Usagi gave him a horrified look. "Are you sure?"

Mamoru nodded. "Not tonight of course. It's been a long few days and we both need time to do things like shower and make sure we get caught up on everything. Plus, I'd rather not spring it on him."

"Alright," Usagi said after a few minutes of thought. They were close now, and he bent for another kiss before she went around the corner and into the house. Just before she opened the door she turned and waved. A white cat sauntered along a high wall, watching the byplay. Mamoru thought he heard it chuckle.

He was really glad to be back in his body. He was even more glad that Usagi was willing to try and be with him. He turned and walked the two blocks to his apartment building, wishing he didn't have to go home alone. He found her surprises for him on his bed, and smiled.

There, in a large frame, was a picture of the two of them with Motoki at the festival. They had been dueling with the water pistols, shooting at each other instead of the game pieces. Both of them were smiling. Motoki had his hand held up over Usagi's head, declaring her the winner.

There were two other pictures, slightly smaller. One was of the entire group, taken by a stranger while they were sitting around sharing food, Usagi had been standing behind him, giving him bunny ears. He grinned. The third picture was him and Motoki, looking down at the girls who had been doing a strange game where they had to crawl backwards. They were laughing. Mamoru could see the difference a smile made in his own eyes.

He got out a hammer and nails and went to hang the pictures in his living room, right over his television. He stood back, proud of how strait he'd lined them up. He went back to the bedroom and grabbed the plastic bag that had been sitting beside the framed pictures. Inside he pulled out his green blazer, then found two new ones, more form fitting and a bit nicer. One was black, one the exact midnight blue of his eyes. He smiled. Underneath those he found a small photo album.

Inside, carefully in order, were dozens of photos. Some had pictures of him and Motoki, others him and Usagi. Many had a mixture of people, including Naru and Umino, Ami and Rei, and several other people he was beginning to consider friends. He smiled, touched by the thoughtful gifts, then picked up his cell phone.

First he was going to call Usagi, and then it was time to tell his best friend about his new girlfriend.

* * *

**Lessons Learned**  
**Chapter Seven**  
**Expressions of Love: Soul-Bond**

* * *

Usagi and Mamoru walked hand in hand to his apartment building. Both were a bit nervous. Their hands were sweating, their knees shaking. They knew it was time, but it was still frightening. They wanted to do it. They loved each other, and wanted to be together forever, but it was very soon. They'd only been dating for two months.

When Mamoru had gone to Luna to explain that he thought Usagi was the Moon Princess, it had seemed to wake the cat up. As soon as he'd said the words she'd gotten a far away look, and had gasped. Then she'd proceeded to tell Mamoru that he was also the Earth Prince. It had been a shock.

The happy part of that was learning he and Usagi were soul mates, and had been Bonded in their previous life. In those days, the Royal families of the Solar System chose Soul-Bonding over traditional marriage. Such a Bond could not be performed without passing three Venusian tests for compatibility. Understanding, Honesty, and Love all had to be there for a Soul-Bond to be approved. But once it was complete, it could never be broken, even through death.

It explained the Link he felt as Tuxedo Kamen whenever Sailor Moon transformed. It explained the dreams they both had, though his were much gentler and left no lasting damage. It also explained why the two of them could never stop bumping into each other, even when they had gone out of their way to avoid one another. In all three aspects of their lives they were connected.

And now, they were going to rekindle the Bond. Mamoru was afraid. He'd never been so unsure of himself. It wasn't like he was experienced. He had no idea what he was doing. And she had none either. He just hoped he didn't hurt her.

They entered the lobby and waved to the security guard before heading to the elevators. The ride up was quiet, the mood tense. This wasn't the way he had expected it to be. He'd thought it would happen with no planning, that it would be spontaneous and easy and completely natural.

Usagi's hand clenched over his and he wondered what she was thinking. Once they were inside Mamoru decided he wasn't going to push. If it happened it happened, but if she wanted to wait they could. When he told her that she sighed with relief.

"I don't want to sound whiny or anything, it's just that I never really wanted it to feel so rushed or pushed on us, you know? I want it to be natural when it happens."

"Me too," he admitted. "The whole time we were walking here, I kept worrying about hurting you, or not doing it right. I mean you were my first kiss. I haven't done anything else."

"Me either," she said, and she sounded so relieved he had to laugh.

"Come on, lets go grab something to eat."

"Do you have what I want?" She asked, a teasing tone in her voice.

"Of course I do!" he said, offended.

They went into the kitchen and he pulled the vanilla ice cream out of the freezer while she got the drinks. She'd bought cute pilsner mugs for him, and they had taken to using them every time she came over to study. He added two scoops of the ice cream and she poured the root beer over it, watching the level of soda under the foam. It was their favorite treat now. Although they were both still chocolate lovers.

"I was so happy Motoki let us make these for the Halloween party." Usagi grinned as she took a spoonful of ice cream.

Somehow Usagi ended up with foam all over her lips and Mamoru couldn't resist leaning in to lick it off. The two kissed for a long time, and his hands slid up her back, under her shirt. He found the strap of her bra and toyed with it a bit before he unhooked it. He grinned as he leaned away and moved his hands around to cup her full breasts.

Her cup clanged onto the counter. She was panting, staring up at him with her wide cerulean eyes, dreamily looking into his own. She launched herself at him a moment later, her arms going around his neck as her lips crashed into his. He lifted her and wrapped her legs around him, setting her on the counter top so he could continue to plunder her mouth.

He pulled back and lifted her shirt and bra over her head, then bent and took a nipple into his mouth. She squealed and reached for the buttons on his shirt. Somehow he ended up with her on the couch, both of them naked, with no idea how they'd gotten there. He was busy kissing every inch of her he could reach, flicking his tongue out to taste her skin. She was pure heaven.

Her little breathy moans drove him wild, and her spread her open to stare at her moist womanhood. He wanted her, more than anything in the world. He was afraid if he didn't get her he would die. He bent his head and took a taste of her, supping on her juices. She was perfect. She screamed when he thrust his tongue into her tiny channel, and her walls spasmed around him.

"Usako," he whispered, when he came up for air. "Please tell me you want this."

"I want this. I want you. Inside me. Now." She spread her legs wider and he moved up her body, pressing himself against her opening as he buried his face in her neck. He wasn't sure what to do, so he just pushed inside a little at a time. She enveloped him in heat and wetness, and he wasn't sure he could hold out. He wasn't even all the way inside yet. Something was stopping him. He pressed harder and then he was fully seated within her.

She cried out briefly, in pain. He felt like weeping for hurting her. He didn't move, and because he was still he noticed the light around them. Bright, sweet light, wrapping around the two of them. Music seemed to swell up and there was a warm breeze that flowed over their skin. And then she moved under him and he knew nothing but her tight wet sheath squeezing so tight around him.

He pumped in and out of her with slow steady strokes, careful not to push too hard or too deep. She moaned, panting under him.

"More," she whispered. He went slightly faster, a little deeper. "More," she groaned. And he took it all. He slammed home roughly, again and again. She met him with each thrust, their hips slapping together with a loud clapping sound. They both groaned and cried out and he continued to take and take until her body tightened around his cock and he growled as he filled her with his seed.

Memory poured into them, the Soul-Bond wrapping around them in golden and silver ribbons of light. Words poured from their mouths. _"I possess and am possessed. Forever mated and unified with you. I will protect and cherish, hold and succor until my dying breath."_

They panted, staring at each other. "I remember," she said.

"I know," he answered. And then ::I love you Usako.::

She gasped. ::I love you Mamo-chan.::

She smiled up at him, and wriggled her hips, trying to get more comfortable. In doing so she woke him to the thought of more pleasure.

"We have time for more," he whispered, not wanting to pressure her.

"Good," she said, and then wriggled her hips again. "Very good."

* * *

It had been one month. One blissfully happy month, since Mamoru and Usagi had rekindled their Soul-Bond. He was wildly in love with her, and it showed. He was still very much the calm one of the pair, but anyone who looked at his eyes as they followed the little blonde wherever she flitted could see the absolute devotion he had for her. They could see that he would do anything, go anywhere, and be anyone that she needed.

He was more than just a boyfriend. More than a fellow warrior. More than a friend. More than a tutor. He was her soulmate. He already knew he would marry her, knew they would have a dozen children, if he could manage to convince her. He was so happy to have her in his life that it shone out of him like a beacon.

Usagi was the light that Mamoru needed in his lonely world. Things had changed so much for him in the month they'd been together, and for her as well. He had become her champion. Not just with her friends, but with her family, her school, with anyone who so much as looked at her. She blossomed with him. Her confidence grew, her grades improved, her fighting skills became legendary. And she was happy.

When she looked at Mamoru she didn't see a lonely little boy. She saw a kind, studious, generous, loving young man. While she knew he needed her, she needed him as well, and the two of them had become Yin and Yang, light and dark, earth and moon for each other. She made sure he was never lonely, he made sure she had time to herself to regroup. She made sure he received all the hugs he could ever want, he made sure she always had someone to lean on.

Motoki, who often watched the pair in awe, saw all of this. He had been much more than a bystander however. As a close friend to both of them, he had seen how the two of them completed each other. He'd watched the steady changes in both of them, and was happy that they'd come together. The circumstances of what had done so still made him shudder, but whatever worked... right?

He was sitting in Mamoru's living room, waiting for Usagi and Reika to show up. The two hung out a bit since she'd returned from her program, and they had decided tonight would be a game night, which suited Motoki just fine. He and Mamoru both had coffee in hand. Mamoru however, was quiet this evening. He turned to his friend with a questioning glance, but Mamoru didn't even notice. He was too busy staring at the large photograph over the television.

"You okay man?" Motoki asked, a bit worried.

"Yeah, just thinking."

"About what?"

"Mom hugs."

"Mom hugs?" Motoki frowned. That could be a depressing topic given Mamoru's history.

"Yeah," he turned and gave Motoki a smile. "Usagi's mother insists I call her Ikuko-mama. She says she's going to give me all the mom hugs I could ever want."

"Wow. How did this happen?"

"Do you remember what I told you about the hug she gave me as Usagi?"

Motoki nodded.

"Well, I thought about it so much, and I talked to Usagi about it. When Ikuko-mama found out about my parents and my memory loss, Usagi told her I didn't get mom hugs. So, she ambushed me this morning. Gave me the best hug ever. Told me she'd give me all the mom hugs I wanted, and said to call her Ikuko-mama." His grin was huge.

"Wow. That's kinda cool. Reika's mom hates me. Thinks I'm too young for her."

"Kenji-san used to hate me too, I think. Now he knows my intentions it's a bit different."

"Intentions?" Motoki was a bit shocked. Wasn't three months a bit early for that kind of thing?

"Yeah Motoki. I'm going to marry her. And I'm not going to wait too long to do it either." He looked towards the door and pulled a small box out of his pocket. He handed it over with all the stealth of a ninja. Motoki opened the box and found a ring with a band of braided silver and gold. The stones were set to look like the moon and a red rose. "I asked Kenji-san last night, and he gave his permission."

"Wow. This is perfect," he whispered. "But isn't it soon?"

"Not for us Motoki. We're soulmates. Soul-Bonded for eternity man."

Motoki nodded.

"In a few years I know she wants to be giving mom hugs of her own." Mamoru sighed happily, staring at the pictures again, and didn't notice Motoki's look of shock.

* * *

**THE END**  
(of this story...)

* * *

**Original Comments:**

* * *

smoon4409 chapter 7 . Feb 7  
I really liked the story! Keeping writing all these wonderful stories of yours!

karseneau1 chapter 7 . Jan 27  
it was great

slvrphoenx chapter 7 . Jan 25  
Love how Minako brought the two together. This is a great story.

karseneau1 chapter 7 . Oct 30, 2019  
it was very good

Guest chapter 1 . Apr 30, 2019  
This is a great story so far! I cried for Usagi.

Jen chapter 7 . Nov 8, 2018  
Aww...happy ending. I like d soul bonding

Jen chapter 6 . Nov 8, 2018  
Minako in disguise, didn't see that coming! Great chapter!

Jen chapter 5 . Nov 8, 2018  
It's nice to see things are improving although kinda irks me that all they did was say sorry and then everything's fine, I mean they've been so cruel and mean to her but of course Usa's Too nice, even to a fault.

Jen chapter 4 . Nov 8, 2018  
Wonderful chapter!though Reid is pissing me off

Jen chapter 3 . Nov 8, 2018  
Geez, everyone's so mean to Usa at least Mamoru' s starting to understand her

Jenny chapter 2 . Nov 8, 2018  
Great chapter!

Jen chapter 1 . Nov 8, 2018  
Oh god, I feel so bad for Usagi. I don't know if I want to click on the next chapter...ehhh who am I kidding! I'm going to click next ;)

catyfc chapter 7 . Nov 5, 2018  
Nice. Well written. I have only one thing that sounds a bit wrong. As you pointed out, she fourteen, even with the soul-bond, marriage is a bit too soon.  
Proposal, yes. Mom-hugs, definitely not.

ParadigmShift81 chapter 6 . Oct 25, 2018  
Oh my god. I loved the plot twist on who was really the Old Man. GENIUS.

phillynz chapter 7 . Oct 20, 2018  
Can piture mamoru trying nock her up straight away lol

LoveInTheBattleField chapter 7 . Oct 19, 2018  
This story was wonderful and I enjoyed it!

lashun316 chapter 7 . Oct 19, 2018  
Nice touch on the mom hugs talk. I loved this touching and funny story. Hmm, I can say though that I can completely see Minako accidentally letting it slip that she was the old man in a flashback/ reminiscing kind of moment about how they got together.

TropicalRemix chapter 6 . Oct 19, 2018  
cute chapter. did mina have something to do with them switching bodies? Can't wait to see what happens next

LoveInTheBattleField chapter 5 . Oct 19, 2018  
Great chapter, please update the next chapter quickly!

Panda1573a chapter 5 . Oct 18, 2018  
That was really a chapter that for some reason made me feel really good. Thank you, i really needed it

Guest chapter 4 . Oct 17, 2018  
Wooow SM unlocked TM's powers that crazy... she was able to release his endy powers more please !

Panda1573a chapter 4 . Oct 16, 2018  
I loved how Mamoru stood up for Usagi, and began to realize everything wasn't as it seemed. I also liked how it was Usagi who discovered the new skills.  
Great chapter, now back to the mess on my desk  
Weep

LoveInTheBattleField chapter 4 . Oct 16, 2018  
More, please update the next chapter quickly!

Guest chapter 4 . Oct 16, 2018  
gets better, keep up the good work.

Krys7 chapter 4 . Oct 16, 2018  
Kinda hate rei for being such a bitch... other than that great chapter looking fwd to more.

Guest chapter 3 . Oct 14, 2018  
Oh my god this is Gild please give more hhis is sooooo good !

Guest chapter 3 . Oct 13, 2018  
Thank you, thank you, THANK YOU! Someone feeling more than a little sympathy for Usagi and what she goes through! I loved Mamoru's outburst! Usually, when I write any kind of story like this, it's Ami who either had or winds up having sympathy for Usagi :) (Rei? Pay attention!)

TropicalRemix chapter 3 . Oct 13, 2018  
you tell them mamoru in usagi's body. Usagi might have a hard time walking because of her past life. She isn't used to the gravity. I wonder what is going to happen when a youma shows up. I hope they find a way to switch them back.

Krys7 chapter 3 . Oct 13, 2018  
Great chapter looking forward to the next update!

Guest chapter 3 . Oct 13, 2018  
I really like this story so far! I mean sure Mamoru can be a bit of an ass at times but I really think he is beginning to change. I wanted to cheer when he told them off!

Guest chapter 1 . Oct 13, 2018  
I absolutely loved this chapter. It has the generals... I've always wondered what happened to them after they killed their lovers. It makes perfect sense.  
While it is a bit angsty for my taste I think its a good start

LoveInTheBattleField chapter 3 . Oct 13, 2018  
This is so funny, Mamoru let them have it, please update the next chapter quickly!

Krys7 chapter 2 . Oct 12, 2018  
Hey good story so far looking forward to reading more!

Guest chapter 2 . Oct 12, 2018  
Mamoru is a mean jerk i hate him

Panda1573a chapter 2 . Oct 11, 2018  
Oh wow,i can't wait to read the next installment. This is such a great chapter!

Nancy67 chapter 2 . Oct 11, 2018  
Great chapter please update soon.

LoveInTheBattleField chapter 2 . Oct 11, 2018  
Nice chapter, please update the next chapter quickly!

LoveInTheBattleField chapter 1 . Oct 11, 2018  
Great story, so sad, please update the next chapter quickly!

Unknown867 chapter 1 . Oct 10, 2018  
Loving this so far.

Panda1573a chapter 1 . Oct 10, 2018  
On how sad...i can't wait to read the next chapter. But how very sad.

Guest chapter 1 . Oct 10, 2018  
Ive always hated her mum and shingo. Kicking her out and beeing mean to her

Nancy67 chapter 1 . Oct 9, 2018  
What is happening with Usagi that she is not healing fast like before? Please update soon.


	6. Dark Crystal Hospital

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Sailor Moon or any of the canon characters. I do have my own created characters and they as well as any changes to other characters and plots are my own creation. I will not receive monetary compensation for this work.

**Requested By:** Roza Dragomir Belikova

**Author's Notes:** This is an AU fanfiction. That means the Senshi will not be part of the story. It is very different for me to write an AU like this, so bear with me.

Reader's Notes: Rated M for Mature sexual content. In this, since they are both adults, I am using a five year age difference.

**Acknowledgements:**  
I was sort of stranded on this one, having never done an AU of this kind before, and asked my friend and beta Astraearose-silvermoon to look it over... she came up with an idea for a scene (not in this chapter) and then we both just sort of started typing. She would suggest an idea and I would go crazy for a second, then turn away and the next thing I knew she'd added more to it, and it was just so perfect. A real collaboration! She also inspired several other scenes and basically helped me get through several slumps. Thank you Bae-ta!  
Much gratitude to Aya Faulkner, The Barroness, DarkenedHrt101, and all the others in SM Chystallis for giving me ideas, talking me through a few rough spots, and listening to me whine... which I did, a lot!

* * *

**Dark Crystal Hospital Character List: **

* * *

**Board Members:**  
Kuro Beryl;  
Chiba Mamoru;  
Sasake Zoicite;  
Sasake Jadeite;  
Yoshida Nephrite;  
Ine Kunzite;  
Staff:  
Tsukino Usagi - Administration;  
Chiba Mamoru - Doctor; Also part owner of the hospital  
Umino Guiro - Doctor

**Other Characters:**  
Rei runs the Shrine and is also a lawyer who does pro-bono work for a large law firm.  
Makoto owns and runs her own restaurant. Usagi is a silent partner.  
Ami works at another hospital with her mother.  
Minako is a model and actress.  
Motoki now owns the Crown Game Center, which he took over from his parents, who moved to America.  
Shingo runs the Newspaper (in this version their father owned it) and is slightly estranged from Usagi who he thinks should have followed in their father's footsteps. Partly because she loves to write and he thinks she's given up on her dreams.  
Naru runs OSA-P Jewelry with her mother, and is married to Umino with two children.

* * *

**Dark Crystal Hospital**  
**Chapter One**

* * *

Tsukino Usagi lay on the bed, staring up at the ceiling. It seemed to her like each second on the clock took an eternity to tick. Days went by so slowly that she wondered if any time was passing at all. Her entire world had shrunk to the four walls that surrounded her, and the things that were held within. She was trapped, just as surely as if she were in a prison. There was no lock on the door, and no chains held her to the bed. No chains but the bonds of a love greater than anything she had ever known.

The shades on the windows overlooking the massive garden were open, the high hedges guarding her privacy as she stared out at the beautiful roses Mamoru had trained to climb an arbor just outside. She wished she could get up and move to the window seat so that she could see them better. With a sigh, she turned her head away, looking around the room.

In front of the massive bed there was a large television and entertainment center. Mamoru had made sure she had access to hundreds of television shows and movies, as well as any music she could imagine. And sitting on the table at her side of the bed was an e-reader with hundreds of books and manga and the money loaded so that she could get any others she wanted.

But Usagi wasn't interested in television, music, or books. She wanted to get up and do something. She wanted to leave the house. Go somewhere. Anywhere. She couldn't. She was trapped, a prisoner in the bed, and in her body, living with a man who didn't trust or even respect her. She wasn't even sure he didn't hate her. The love she had for him was rather new, and it was breaking her heart each and every day that he didn't feel the same.

She gazed down at her wedding and engagement rings. They were both silver. The engagement ring had a heart made of pink diamond and was surrounded by smaller white diamonds. She didn't find it the least bit romantic.

With a sigh, she closed her eyes. What had brought her to this?

She'd been happy enough, working at Dark Crystal Hospital. It hadn't been her fondest dream, but over time she had grown to like the work, and most of the people she worked with. The other administrators were wonderful. The nurses were amazing, and even some of the doctors were kind and considerate people who had shown her respect and given her friendship.

She'd worked there since her last days of high school. Before her parents had died. Before her life had been changed forever and her brother had become so disappointed in her for not taking over the paper and for giving up her dreams of writing. Before the world, as she knew it, had changed forever.

Yes, she'd been happy once. She had often had lunch with the girls, and every day she and Umino would talk about what new things the children he and Naru had brought into the world were doing as they sat sipping coffee in the little café beside the hospital gift shop. She would ooh and aah over pictures of their son and daughter, who were growing far too quickly for her liking, and they would laugh at the antics of their son, who was three and got into all sorts of mischief.

And then everything had come crashing down around her. One step after another her world crumbled, until she was trapped, here in her marriage bed, unable to escape the heartache she was forced to face day after day when her husband failed to love her, failed to see the truth. And she was beginning to lose hope that Chiba Mamoru would ever learn who she really was. He had forced her into marriage and she had been helpless against falling in love with him, even knowing he despised her.

Even so many months later, the day her world had splintered was still so clear in her mind. There had been no warning. She'd been working through a spreadsheet, trying to find what had caused a discrepancy in the hospital funds, when Chiba Mamoru had stormed into the office. The door had slammed back against the wall, startling her, and she'd looked up into his blazing blue eyes, so full of anger and loathing.

"Did you think you could get away with it?" he'd asked.

Usagi had been stunned. She had no idea what he was implying, and her heart had been trying to pound it's way right out of her chest. She'd spluttered and tried to ask him what he was talking about, but her words had gotten so jumbled that she nearly cried. She had only shaken her head a him, hyperventilating and shaking as he stared her down.

"Don't bother denying it Tsukino," he'd said, "I've seen the proof with my own eyes. You've been stealing from this hospital, and through it, from me."

Fear and anger had coursed through her, making her strong enough to stand and face him. Him and his perfect black hair and his Armani suit, storming into her office and making accusations. "How dare you!" she'd snapped. "I would never do something like that."

"Then what is this?" he'd asked, pulling a packet of papers from inside his jacket.

Usagi had taken it and searched through the documents. There in black and red, looked to be incontrovertible proof that she had been siphoning money out of hospital accounts into one in a Swiss bank, with her own name on it. She almost laughed. Even had she not had money of her own, and even if she had been desperate enough to steal from the hospital, she wouldn't have been stupid enough to make it traceable. She would have ensured no one could have linked the money to her.

She'd known instantly that she was being framed. And when she'd looked through one of the large windows of her office and seen Kuro Beryl with her arms folded, watching everything with a satisfied smirk, she'd instantly known what had happened. It was Beryl stealing the money, and Beryl who had framed her. But when she looked down at the papers again she knew it would be impossible to prove. It wasn't Beryl's name on those accounts. It was her own. She had no hope.

"I didn't do this," she said finally, looking back at Mamoru.

"Prove it," he sneered, his anger making him seem cruel.

"I can't," she whispered.

"Exactly!"

He stood and paced back and forth in front of her desk, occasionally looking back at her, still obviously furious, then suddenly went to the door and closed it. He'd walked around to her side of the desk and Usagi had backed up several steps to avoid him. He had gotten right into her face then, scanning her silently, before he'd smiled.

"For something like this you could very well spend a lot of time in jail," he said.

Usagi's heart stuttered. She shook her head. "It wasn't me," she whispered, terrified.

"Even if I believed you, which I most certainly don't, there's still the matter of the proof," he snarled. Then his face had changed, his voice had lowered, and he'd moved even closer, lifting a hand to touch her cheek. "No, there is no proof." His smile had frightened her more than his glares. "But I can help you."

"H-how?" Usagi was shaking by then, her whole body reacting to his nearness. She didn't understand it, but though she was terrified she would be sent to jail, she knew he wouldn't physically harm her.

"No one has to know about this," he said. "If I don't report it to the police, it's as though it never happened. We close the account and replace the money. No one the wiser. I will cover anything that is lost. But you Tsukino. You will have to do me a favor as well." His smile terrified her as he continued. "Did you know my family owns half this hospital? Or that I am last in the Chiba line? No?"

He shook his head, taking her hand and leading her to one of the chairs in front of the desk. Sitting in the other, he turned her so that she had no choice but to look at him, and took both her hands in his. Her stomach was in knots and Usagi thought she might throw up.

"I don't understand," she whispered, when she could finally speak.

"The Chiba line ends with me. The only remaining member of the family. See?" Usagi nodded her head and he continued. "If I help you to cover up your crime," he held up his hand when she tried to protest. "No, don't argue. You are guilty as far as I'm concerned, and until I see proof showing me otherwise I don't intend to trust you as far as I can throw you. I can use you however."

"What?" Usagi asked, shivering under his intense gaze. "Use me?" She was more terrified than ever, but he had only smiled.

"I have a vast inheritance," he said at last. "Enough to buy all of Tokyo, with money to spare. Unfortunately, most of that inheritance is locked away with three stipulations. I have to be thirty. I have to have a wife. I have to have a child." He grinned at her hitching breath.

"The first is done. But the other two..." he shook his head. "All these stupid women throwing themselves at me. None care wit about me, only my money. But they all try to convince me that they are in love. Several have even attempted to trick me into marriage. I don't want to live a lie, always wondering what new trick they might have up their sleeves."

"W-what are you s-saying?"

"Marry me. Bear me a child. It would be nothing more than a business arrangement. You would have a weekly allowance much larger than the amount you tried to steal." He shook his head. "But you will no longer be allowed to work in this hospital. You will sign a prenuptial agreement, and you will have no access to my accounts."

"And after?" she'd asked, shaking so hard she'd been afraid of falling out of her chair.

"After what?"

"After your child is born. What becomes of me then?" Anger was welling up in her, but she knew she had no choice. There was no way she could prove her innocence, especially since she would no longer be working at the hospital regardless of whether she married him or not.

"Marriage is forever," he said simply. "We can lead separate lives however. I do not intend to let a woman sway me, even one as beautiful as you. I would be faithful, and expect the same from you. I have needs, and I expect you to meet them as I would meet yours, but other than that, we don't really need to interact except for the sake of the child, do we?"

For several minutes Usagi had sat in the chair, staring at him, her mind a chaotic mess. She had made and discarded a dozen plans, from running out of her office screaming, to picking up her old paperweight shaped as a lotus blossom made from crystal and hitting him with it, to calling her Rei, who had become a lawyer, for help. She even wondered if she shouldn't just let it all happen, take the blame, and spend her time in jail.

But if she was involved in a scandal, the paper her brother owned, that had been started by their father, would be dragged in the mud right beside her. With her parents gone, it was just her and Shingo left, and she didn't want him to see her as a thief. She couldn't bear it if he hated her, and she wouldn't let his life be destroyed or the paper torn apart. She couldn't let that happen.

Resolved, she looked up and met his eyes. Her heart broke as she sealed her fate. "Fine."

"What?"

"I'll do it," she said. "I'll marry you." She couldn't stop a tear from escaping.

Mamoru had reached out and wiped the tear away with gentle fingers. "I knew you were smart," he said, then leaned back in his chair and smiled. "Until we are legally married, you don't leave my sight."

Now, months later, Usagi struggled to sit up and swiped at her teary eyes. Everything had changed for her, but not for him. He still despised her, thought the worst of her. And she... she hadn't been able to stop herself tumbling head over heels in love with him.

He'd been true to his word, not letting her leave the building without him, then following her to her apartment that night, where he had insisted on sleeping in her bed beside her, though he hadn't so much as tried to touch her. He'd watched her, constantly, with a hint of suspicion at her every move, until she'd wanted to throw things at him and scream. Then he'd ordered her to flush the last of her birth control pills and watched her until she'd complied. She'd kept her tongue and had hidden her tears in her soft pillow later that night, while he lay next to her, breathing deeply in sleep.

Their marriage had become official the next day. He had cleaned out her office, and her apartment, using a moving company, and she had been installed in his massive house on the outskirts of Tokyo. Mamoru had insisted on buying her a new phone, and a car, and had given her the promised allowance in an account he monitored closely. She'd been required to buy new clothing to fit the station he filled, and had been forced to attend parties and fundraisers on his arm. She hated all of it. The clothes, the jewels, the money. She hadn't seen or spoken to her friends in months, and was ashamed that she hadn't wanted to.

She wasn't allowed anywhere close to Dark Crystal Hospital without him however. As a matter of fact, he'd tried to keep her out completely. She hadn't thought to question him, worried that she might be arrested in spite of his measures to hide what he considered her crime.

In every aspect of her life Mamoru was in complete control. Suave, persuasive, even charming. Every part of her life. Except their marriage bed. That was the only place she had ever seen Chiba Mamoru lose control.

Usagi reached for a tissue and wiped her eyes. Her heart was breaking, a little more each day, and there was no hope for any change. She knew in a few months she could probably run away. He wouldn't even chase her. But there was something inside her that refused that alternative. Even if he didn't love her, even if he thought the worst of her, seeing his face each day was the only thing that got her through. And there were other reasons she couldn't ever leave. Reasons more important than her happiness.

Thinking back to that first night of marriage, Usagi couldn't help but smile. She had been a wreck. She'd cried on the drive from the courthouse back to his large estate and though she'd tried to hide it he had been aware. There were things he didn't know, couldn't have known, but somehow he had guessed.

Usagi, for all of her twenty-five years, had never been in love before. And because she had never been in love, she had never given her body to anyone. She had been shaking and terrified, sitting at the edge of the bed, when he'd come into the room. Seeing her tears, he had come to her, kneeling on the ground and looking into her face.

"I won't hurt you," he'd promised. Then he'd chuckled. "I'll probably make you scream, but never in pain." She hadn't been able to speak. A mass of nerves huddling on the bed, she'd stared at him, wide-eyed and afraid, not knowing what to expect. His hand had come up and rested on her bare knee, and he'd smiled. "Believe it or not, most people enjoy sex. The first time a woman might feel a pinch, but that's it. I promise you, when it's all over you'll want to do it again."

"Everyone always said it hurt," she whispered, feeling as though she could tell him her fears, but not knowing why.

"Then whoever they were with didn't do it right, or didn't care enough. In fact, I would bet I can take your virginity and you wouldn't even notice." He stood and pulled her to her feet. "You'll be too busy screaming my name."

That was when he had kissed her for the first time. In the courthouse he had been all business. It had seemed like nothing more than the contract it was. She hadn't worn a white gown, and he hadn't worn a tuxedo. It had been finished in half an hour, with none of her friends and family knowing what had happened.

But standing in his bedroom, before his massive bed, Mamoru pressed his lips to hers and expanded her world. His lips were hot and dry, slightly forceful against her own as he used his tongue to part her mouth and spear into her, tasting and learning every inch. Usagi's hands had fluttered against her sides for a long moment, but they'd lifted to his shoulders, then slid around his neck and her fingertips had dug into his thick, black hair. He had been persuasive, urging her to copy his movements and press her tongue into his mouth, where he had suckled it. He had pulled back slightly before leaving a trail of kisses from the corner of her mouth, over her jaw to her neck.

Even all these months later Usagi had no idea how he'd managed to remove most of her clothing and get her lying on the bed without her noticing. The kisses had been nearly endless. One minute she'd been standing before him nearly dressed, the next lying on her back in just her panties, his hot hands cupping her breasts while his lips teased hers into more kisses. And then, for the first time, she had learned what sex could be.

He'd begun with gently pinching her nipples between his thumb and forefinger, pulling slightly. It had made her moan into his mouth and her body began reacting without conscious thought. Her hips lifted, grinding against his boxers and the stiff member hidden beneath. She remembered moaning for him, panting and crying out as his mouth had explored her. He'd bitten her ear-lobe and she'd gone nearly insane with a need she didn't understand. Then he had bit gently into the curve of her neck and her insides had turned to goo, waiting for him.

As his mouth traveled down to her breasts, Usagi had panted, her eyes closed as she waited to learn what was next. When he closed his mouth over her nipple and sucked hard, she had screamed and grabbed his hair in her hands, holding him to her, unable to stop herself from reacting. His free hand traced over her stomach and pressed against the wet spot on her panties. He had groaned and Usagi had been worried something was wrong until he'd bit her nipple, sending her into a spiral she didn't understand.

His hands were skilled, his mouth divine, and when he had removed her panties, sliding them slowly down her legs while he'd watched her face, and had spread her legs apart, Usagi had hardly been able to breathe as she returned his look. Then he had done something Usagi hadn't expected. His face had lowered to her mound. He had spread her open with his thumbs, and swiped the length of his tongue over her slit and up to her clit. She'd screamed again, hips bucking almost uncontrollably as he captured her bundle of nerves in his mouth and sucked. He had been forced to grab her hips and hold her still, but by that point, Usagi had been flying through the heavens with her first orgasm caused by something other than her own fingers.

He moved up her body then, kissing every inch he could reach, and she nearly panicked when she felt his tip touching her most private place, pressing against her folds. "Not yet Usagi," he had whispered, before kissing her breathless. He sat up on his knees and lifted her over his thighs, spreading her further. The head of him pressed barely inside, he had used his thumb, rubbing over her clit, gently at first, but with more and more pressure until she was screaming again, calling out his name in shock as she orgasmed a second time.

When she came back to earth she felt different. Full. She looked down her body to where they were joined. Somehow it was incredibly erotic to see him pressed so tightly against her, his flesh disappearing inside her own. She met his eyes. "It doesn't hurt," she whispered. "I feel... full."

Mamoru had smiled. "Good." It was all he'd said. Then he had pulled partly out and pressed back in. "Watch me Usagi," he ordered. "Watch me take you."

Unable to deny him, she had watched his thick organ piercing her folds again and again. As he moved she began to feel different. She could feel pressure building inside her, deeper than when he had stimulated her clit. The fullness inside, and the pressure deep within, began to make her clench around him. She needed something more, but had no words to explain. She looked at him, helplessly seeking answers, and he had smiled.

"Do you need more Usagi?" he'd asked.

"Please," she whispered.

Inside her, his cock had jumped, as though the word stimulated him, and he'd growled. "Say it again," he demanded.

"Please," she begged, meeting his eyes, which began to take on a feral look. He moved faster within her, pushed deeper, hit harder inside. She moaned, lifting her hips to him. "Please," she begged again. Mamoru had lost himself, thrusting in and out of her fast and hard, growling her name. His eyes had been trained on her face, as though her every reaction was driving him on. So she whispered the word one more time. "Please."

His control snapped. Taking her hips in his hands he drove hard and deep, and so fast she couldn't match him. Her eyes shuttered closed until he ordered her to open them again and watch. When she'd looked to where their bodies met, something inside her changed. She'd thrown her head back and screamed as the orgasm raced through her body, from the inside out. Her belly fluttered, her legs and arms froze, and her inner walls had clenched so tightly it almost hurt. And then Mamoru had yelled her name and his pace disintegrated until he was pressing himself as deep as he could and shouting through his own orgasm.

When it was over, Mamoru had lain on her for several long minutes, breathing heavily. Then he'd pulled out and wiped both of them down before pulling back the blankets and rolling over to fall asleep, his soft snores echoing in the room. He hadn't even spoken to her.

Usagi had lain there, next to him in their marriage bed, her body still reacting to the incredible orgasm he had given her, and she'd wept. Wept because he wasn't holding her. Wept because she knew she shouldn't be falling in love with her husband over what he saw as only sex. Wept because she knew he could tear her heart into little pieces with every touch, every word, and every moment like this, when he turned away and didn't see the tears.

Since that day Usagi had learned much about sex. She'd learned ways to tease him, ways to please him. Mamoru always preferred to be in control, both in and out of the bedroom, and she had to admit she enjoyed it, but she had learned how to take control once in a while. She had learned one very valuable thing. When his control broke he became wild and passionate and could make her scream his name. He'd done so, in every room of the large estate. In the first few weeks she had been sore almost constantly. She truly enjoyed sex with him, and wanted it even more often than he did.

Now though, it had been a month since they'd been intimate. She missed it. Mamoru wasn't affectionate with her at any other time. He had been quite solicitous with her since she'd been put on bedrest, though she knew it had nothing to do with her. Another sigh filtered into the air as she checked the clock. More than three hours left to wait. She hated being so alone all the time.

Her mind wandered to another problem in their marriage. Money. Mamoru granted her a weekly allowance. One much larger than she could possibly want, or use. She had her own inheritance, thank you very much, and it was no small chunk of change. But she didn't touch it. She didn't need dresses that cost more than a family made in a month. She didn't need fancy, but disgusting, food that cost more for a single bite than some made in a week. She'd much rather spend time in a café hanging out with friends and eating real food that filled a person up. She'd never needed the money she had, and now she had much more.

But it wasn't just that he gave her an allowance. It was that he questioned every single purchase she had made and wanted a weekly discussion about it. She had grown frustrated to the point of tears and had finally refused to even touch it. Which had caused another fight, because he'd insisted there was no way he was allowing her to use stolen money to buy things.

She'd reacted badly, spilling her one secret. One she'd kept quiet on the advice of Rei, who had become a lawyer as well as running the Jinja after her grandfather grew too ill to continue. "I don't need your money baka!" she'd yelled, not caring that she sounded a bit like a banshee. "I never have, and I never will! I have my own money. Money that I didn't steal. So take your 'allowance' and kiss my ass!"

After that Usagi had stormed out of the house and run as fast and as far as she could until her legs were shaking, her lungs were burning, and tears were pouring down her cheeks. She'd ended up near the ocean, just staring out over the water, trying to find any way out of the hell she was enduring. But there was no way. It was in her stupid pre-nuptial agreement. If she tried to leave he would send his proof to the police. She was linked to him irrevocably.

Swiping at angry tears, Usagi shifted in the bed again. It had been months since that night. Months since she'd sat on the beach, staring out at the rising moon. Months since he'd found her, lectured her for running off like that, wrapped his jacket around her shaking shoulders, and carried her to his car. But Usagi would never forget. She wouldn't forget that he had tracked her down using her cell phone, or that he hadn't come because of her at all.

Sniffling, she tried to put her thoughts in order. She stared at the stupid television, wondering if she should just turn it on and get lost in mindless drivel and forget everything. But she was sick of television. She was sick of everything that had been keeping her occupied.

In order to do something, anything different, she pulled her brand new laptop off the nightstand and opened it. Pulling up a word document she began to type, her fingers flying over the keys. She began writing everything that had happened to her, everything she had thought and felt, and she wrote what she hoped for the future. As she neared the end, her fingers slowed. She hesitated, but began to write once more.

_I discovered I was pregnant almost immediately. I didn't expect it so soon, coming off the birth control like that, I thought it would be months before I was fertile. Months before I had to accept that there really was no changing what had happened. Instead, after flushing my remaining pills the night before the wedding, I was late for my period a few weeks later. It felt like someone up there was laughing at me, as this chain around my life grew tighter and tighter. I knew, for the first time, that I would be trapped in this loveless marriage forever._

_What's worse is that I have none of my friends or family with me. I'm sure he wouldn't stop me from calling them, but he refuses to let me go back to Dark Crystal Hospital. He doesn't want me anywhere near there, even though he has taken me to several functions other staff members attended. It's like he thinks I'm going to steal the whole building and take off. It's so... unfair. I really don't know what other word to use there. I hate my life now._

_And yet, learning I was pregnant changed me. I fell in love instantly with the little life growing in my womb. When I told him, Mamoru looked both happy and terrified. Then he was hugging me and twirling me around the room. I could almost believe, just for an instant, that he actually cared for me. I think I will hold on to that moment for the rest of my life._

_Unfortunately, I know the truth. He cares nothing for me. His entire world is wrapped up in my womb. It's hard to see myself as anything more than an incubator. If I was only able to tell him the truth, that I love him. It's impossible though. I won't let him think I'm one of those scheming women he hates so much. If he could only see that I would never have stolen from him. If he could only see that I'm a person too. That I think, and I bleed, and I feel..._

_He became overprotective even in the beginning. Those first few weeks of partial freedom I already considered a prison seem so lovely now. Once I was pregnant however he began to worry constantly. He reads books, rather than asking me what I need. He talks to doctors instead of listening to what I say. And he guards me like a frigging dog with a bone. He wouldn't even let me leave the house without him, because one time I got dizzy. One time._

_I can't count the number of remedies he brought home for morning sickness, or the times he practically forced me to eat. He has special headphones to put over my belly with classical music. He's read every parenting book available. And yet, even though he seems to want to know how I am feeling, he doesn't care for my sake._

_And when we discovered I was pregnant with twins it grew so much worse. When they used the doppler on me at my exam and the nurse practitioner heard an echo, I didn't understand, but he did. He'd been researching about pregnancy so much that he understood immediately. I had to be told I was carrying two children. Told like an idiot. It's a boy and a girl, though we didn't find that out until about six weeks ago._

_After we learned I was having twins Mamoru started to worry about every single move I made. He wanted to take time off of work and watch me, like I was some sort of moron who couldn't figure out how to take care of myself. That was another argument. This time I was too big to take off running, so I locked myself in the bathroom so he wouldn't see me cry._

_I think maybe he would have seen reason, eventually, if it wasn't for the car accident._

_It wasn't even a bad one. Just a fender-bender. We were waiting for the light to change and felt someone ram into the back of the car. Mamoru freaked. He brought me to the hospital. I tried to tell him I was fine, but he wouldn't believe it. They told him I was fine and sent me home. I was twenty-eight weeks by that point, and I didn't think anything was wrong._

_For once, I can admit I'm glad Mamoru didn't rely on my judgement. When he saw me in pain the next morning, he rushed me back to the hospital. Again they said nothing was wrong, but he wouldn't drop it. He begged them to do an ultrasound, told them my belly and my back were hurting, and got insistent. I think he would have brought me to Dark Crystal Hospital instead if they hadn't listened, no matter that he doesn't want me near the place._

_They finally agreed to the ultrasound and we discovered that our son's placenta is partially detached from the uterine wall. It's called a partial placental abruption. I was given steroids and put on total bed-rest. That was almost two weeks ago. They want me to get as close to thirty-seven weeks as possible. Which means almost another two months. So even though I hate this bed, and feeling trapped, I will stay here. I can't lose either of our babies. I love them._

Usagi closed the lid of her laptop and swiped at the tears yet again. She was tired of crying all the time. It seemed that was all she had done since meeting Mamoru. Her emotions were all over the place and she hated it. But with everything that had been happening, Usagi knew it wasn't simply pregnancy hormones, as he claimed. No. Her heart was breaking. And she was rather sure it would continue to break again and again for the rest of her life.

No, she wasn't chained, wasn't technically a prisoner, but the love she felt for the two children growing in her womb kept her there. And her love for their father. She rubbed hands over her swollen belly and sighed, closing her eyes. She wasn't a prisoner. But she felt like one.

* * *

Mamoru clicked the remote lock button on his key fob and hurried toward the house, worried, as he had been every day for months about Usa- about his babies. He wanted to make sure they were alright. From the very beginning of her pregnancy he had been worried. Her morning sickness was much earlier and more severe than the books said it should have been. She'd lost over ten pounds in two months. She'd had dizzy spells and was lightheaded, and sometimes she had pain in her abdomen.

He was a doctor for crying out loud. He should be able to make everything better, and he couldn't. Knowing that she was sick and in pain had made him feel guilty, in spite of the fact that he didn't trust her, or even like her very much. While Usagi had her good points, he could never care about a thief. He shook his head and put his key in the lock.

After throwing his jacket onto the hook by the door and tossing his keys into the bowl on the little table next to it, he made his way into the parlor. He'd converted it into their bedroom a month before, while Usagi had still been in the hospital. The last thing she should be doing was climbing stairs. He shook his head at the thought. She probably would have tried if he hadn't insisted. It wasn't that she was stupid, just far too stubborn for her own good.

Usagi was sleeping when he made it to the bed. Both hands rested over her belly as she leaned a bit too far to the left, her neck at an awkward angle. And Mamoru could see the remnants of tears on her cheeks. He sighed and moved forward, kneeling at the edge of the mattress to lift her lightly and roll her so that she lay on her side. She slept better that way, not waking up so often with heartburn. Brushing the tear-dampened hair off her cheek, Mamoru sat beside her, wishing he could wave a wand and make the babies appear.

It was a bit unfair that she had to suffer so much. Guilt tried to swamp him but he pushed it down. It was too late to change anything, even if he'd wanted to, and he didn't want to. He'd chosen her long before he'd learned of her guilt. Things would have gone much differently had she been an honest person. He would have wooed her, made her fall in love with him. Perhaps it was better this way after all. He knew what he had gotten himself into, and so did she. There was no trickery about her being in love with him while scrambling after his money.

Careful not to wake her, Mamoru made his way into the kitchen. The housekeeper would have left their dinner in the oven and all he needed to do was turn it on so they could eat. He had to admit it was much better sitting across the table, or even on the other side of the bed, from her than eating alone. Grabbing plates and forks from the cupboard, he let his mind wander back to the first time he had seen Tsukino Usagi.

He'd just come out of a rather long and awful meeting with the hospital board. Even being a doctor himself didn't get him out of those meetings, no matter how much he hated them. Beryl had been blathering on about some stupid party she wanted to attend and Mamoru had felt a headache brewing right behind his eyes.

And then he'd looked up when he heard a young woman curse under her breath. He'd fallen instantly in lust. Long blonde hair, tied up in two small buns with long tresses hanging from each had caught his attention first. Then he'd seen her legs. Though she was incredibly tiny, not quite five feet, the girl had legs up to her neck and a little round bottom he wanted to smack. And when she'd turned away from the copier she'd been dressing down as though it could hear her, he'd caught a glimpse of her large, firm, perky breasts and his mouth had started watering. Her eyes were the bluest he had ever seen, and she had been gnawing on her lower lip in embarrassment at being caught talking to a machine. She'd blushed and Mamoru had been a goner.

For the next few weeks he had made any excuse he could come up with to go into the accounting section, and though he had not spoken to her personally, the others had nothing but nice things to say about her. All the doctors, nurses, and administrators adored her. He'd been nearly smitten himself.

Until Beryl had shown him the report.

Mamoru growled as he pulled their meal out of the oven. It was the perfect temperature. It would have just enough time to cool while he woke her. He dished out the food and grabbed a couple of bottles of water as well as her medicine, and carried it all on a tray back to the parlor.

"Wake up Usagi," he said, moving her gently into a sitting position and arranging the pillows to support her. Usagi only groaned. Mamoru smiled and pushed her hair out of her face. He shook her shoulder gently. When that didn't work he said the magic word. "Food."

Cerulean eyes popped open and she stared at him. "Mamo-" she cut off, blushing slightly. "Uh, sorry. Did I fall asleep?"

"Yes." He pulled open the little folding table he had gotten for her and put it over her thighs, then put a rubberized place mat on it to keep things from slipping every time one of them moved. Once her plate and water bottle were on the table, he grabbed his own, rounded the bed, and sat next to her.

"How was your day?" she asked.

Mamoru smiled. Even when she was pissed at him, she always asked. "It was incredibly long, and boring. Had to sit through another board meeting and then the rest of the day was consultations. I want to get everything organized for when the babies get here so I can take time off."

Usagi smiled. "You're going to be a great dad," she said, taking a bite of her rice.

"You'll be a great mom too," he admitted. In spite of not trusting her with money, Mamoru knew she already loved their son and daughter and would do anything for them. "Have you been feeling any better?"

"Just a little twinge this morning when I went to the bathroom," Usagi said softly. "The nurse helped me at lunchtime and I didn't feel anything then. I'm just..." she trailed off and Mamoru frowned.

"What is it?" he worried about her health, and his babies. "Are you alright?"

Usagi nodded. "I'm sort of bored. Lonely. I miss my friends." She sniffled once, but then seemed to pull herself together.

Mamoru had never told her not to contact her friends. He'd only told her to stay away from Dark Crystal. He didn't want to take the chance that anyone would put together the 'blip' in the funds and her sudden marriage to him. He could only protect her if she stayed away. Not that he cared... He didn't... At all... He just didn't want to be involved in a scandal. That's all it was.

"Why don't you call them?" he asked.

Usagi shook her head. "I can't," she whispered.

Not really understanding at all, Mamoru shrugged. "Don't forget to take your meds."

Usagi groaned at him, but grabbed the bottles and took out the pills. She too a sip of water then popped the medicine into her mouth and swallowed, grimacing. He knew she hated the meds, but she always took them. He might not think much of her as a worker, but he could see her love for their unborn son and daughter. And for now, that was enough.

"I was thinking about the nursery," he said, hoping the comment didn't cause another argument.

"What about it," she asked, looking nervous.

"We haven't even gotten the cribs yet," Mamoru said. "The only thing done is the paint."

Usagi bit her lip and Mamoru instantly hardened at the sight. It was driving him rather insane that they couldn't do anything. He'd grown accustomed to being with her, sometimes several times a day. But for the past month he had kept his distance to protect their children. Instead he'd been forced back to the old standby, his own hand. At least he had plenty of things to fantasize about now.

Her next words brought him back to the present. "I'm worried about buying anything too soon," she said, her voice hardly a whisper. "What if...?" her voice trailed off and a tear slipped down her cheek.

"They'll be fine, and so will you," Mamoru said, praying it was the truth. "We have a housekeeper, you have a nurse, and me. You don't have to do anything but stay in that bed until they're born."

"I know," Usagi said and he got the distinct impression that she was miserable. There wasn't anything he could do about that. She had to stay in bed or their children might be lost, and according to his research, she could die as well.

"You're past the three month stage," Mamoru added. "That's when all the books say it's time to start preparing. We don't even have a theme."

Chewing on her lip, Usagi closed her eyes. "We could do some of the old stories," she said after a long moment. "You know, the rabbit on the moon, or samurai. Maybe a garden theme with some of those old ideas thrown in. A sakura tree on one side, maybe a mountain in the distance on the other, and other designs mixed in so that it feels like you're in the middle of a story."

Mamoru smiled. He liked the idea. Especially considering her name and his family's history as warriors. It suited them, and their offspring. "It's perfect," he said. "Maybe you could draw something for it tomorrow and I'll have an artist come in and take a look. I've met Yumemi Yumeno. I could have her do the artwork. What do you think?"

Usagi nodded her head and took a bite of her food. She looked a little less sad, and that was a good thing. Mamoru considered how alone she must feel all day, in spite of the housekeeper and the visiting nurse. Maybe it was time to cut his hours back at the hospital. She was carrying his children. The least he could do was spend a few more hours a day with her.

* * *

Nestled in the heart of the Azabu-Juuban shopping district was a small café and ice cream shop. Called the Crown Fruit Parlor, the little place mostly catered to teens and young adults, and had been a popular hang-out among the young men and women who gathered there as most of the patrons left for the evening. The group was collected together for a purpose they all believed worthy, and none were willing to walk away until a solution had been found.

Motoki, who ran the Crown Game Center just next door, and who was brother to Unazuki who ran the Fruit Parlor, was the first to arrive. He had known the others since they'd been pre-teens, and considered himself a brother and protector to all of them, and many of the other young people who had passed through his doors throughout the years. His blonde hair was slightly overlong and he ran his fingers through it often to keep it off his face and out of his bright green eyes.

Four young women who appeared to be on a warpath trooped inside moments later.

Makoto, the tallest, had on a ji, having just come from a class she taught for young learners of the martial arts. She also had a bit of frosting under her left ear which had gotten there during her late afternoon rush to replenish the cakes in the bakery she owned with Usagi, who was her silent partner. She had an air of danger about her as she glared around the room, as though trouble was brewing and she was ready to face it.

Behind her was Ami, who was in her residency as a doctor. She still had a stethoscope around her neck, having forgotten to remove it when she began searching the internet on her phone to find any information about her friend, who appeared to be missing. Her glasses were perched in her shoulder-length blue hair, and her brows were furrowed as she continued to read while walking through the doors.

Minako came next, looking like the starlet she was. She'd become a model in her teens, and in the past few years had moved into acting, which kept her constantly busy. Her long blonde hair, not much different in color from Usagi's, was up in a classic French twist, and she was busily searching through her purse for her phone, which seemed to go missing every time she turned around. Her eyes scanned the room as she entered, and settled on Motoki, who had found an empty booth in the back large enough for their group.

Rei followed the others in. She wore her miko robes, as she had spent the last several hours performing rites at the shrine after a morning working through an interesting pro-bono case she'd taken on. She was a lawyer, which suited her well as she had never lost the urge to have a good argument. At the moment however, Rei was missing her favorite debater, Usagi. She hadn't seen or heard from her in months, and wanted to know exactly what was going on. She would stop at nothing to find her friend.

Only a few short minutes after they arrived, Shingo came rushing into the Fruit Parlor. The owner of a well-respected newspaper, he had nearly a hundred employees. He was only twenty-three, but he found the work entertaining and enlightening. He enjoyed all aspects of the business and had learned from the ground up as a researcher, then a reporter, and finally an editor. He didn't take his position lightly and felt a great responsibility to those who worked for him, and an even greater responsibility towards his sister, who had given up her dreams to take care of him after their parent's death. Instead of going to college herself, she'd sent Shingo. Their inheritance hadn't come to them until very recently, and up until that point Usagi had scraped by to give him everything he needed. Now she was gone, and none of them had heard from her in far too long.

Umino and Naru appeared last, with whispered apologies for being late. Apparently their daughter had thrown up on Naru's blouse when she'd been trying to hand her over to the babysitter. Naru's bright red hair was pulled back in a braid and looked much different than it had in her youth. With two little ones underfoot she had to keep it back and out of the way. She'd changed into jeans and a shimmering blue shirt with a sapphire pendant around her neck. She was now part owner of her mother's jewelry store and was much more responsible than when she was young. Umino also appeared different. He wore contacts now and his brilliant blue eyes were quite visible, no glasses glare making him appear to be eyeless. He had on light grey slacks and a button down shirt, and everyone could see he held himself with an air of authority and a grace he had never had during his teen years.

As the group gathered around the table there was an air of mixed worry and excitement. All of them knew something was going on, though not what it was. They'd been meeting like this for several weeks now, and had discovered much, though not enough to know where Usagi was exactly.

"Has she been seen again?" Rei asked, not bothering to say hello. She was staring at Umino, who was the last of their group to have seen Usagi.

"Not for a month," Umino said. "But every time she has been seen it was with that same doctor."

"Who is he?" Rei asked.

"His name is Chiba Mamoru. Apparently he owns the hospital. Or at least part of it and..." he trailed off staring at Motoki, who had made a sound in his throat upon hearing the name. "What's wrong."

"I know him." Motoki blew out a heavy breath. "We used to be good friends, but I haven't seen him in years. He went to Moto-Azabu with me."

"Well?" Rei demanded.

"He's filthy rich. Came into his inheritance, or part of it, when he was twenty. He used to be rather quiet and withdrawn. Girls have been chasing him, after his money actually, since he was sixteen or so and his parents died. Doesn't trust or make friends easily, but he did hang out with a group of other guys from wealthy families who were in the same predicament. Women didn't really give a shit about them, just their family name and wealth. A bit jaded. What could he want with our Usagi?"

Ami gasped and set her phone down on the table, the words on the screen not visible to the rest of the group. "He married her."

"What?" The collective gasp, or shout in some cases, came from the entire group. They all stared at her in shock.

"She's married?" Shingo asked. "How? Why didn't she tell me?"

"If Mamoru got married it would have been major news," Motoki said. "Why didn't we all hear about it?"

"And why weren't any of us invited to the wedding?" Rei asked, looking hurt.

"Or get asked to plan it?" Makoto whispered. "Something isn't right here. Usagi would never do something like this and not tell us. What the hell is going on?"

Minako, who had been silent the entire time, frowned and covered her face with both hands. Tears fell from her eyes, and she didn't care in the slightest if they destroyed her makeup. "Makoto's right," she said. "We all know exactly what Usagi wanted for her wedding. It was all planned, remember?"

"What do you mean?" Shingo asked.

"When we were in high school, the six of us were having this massive sleepover at the Jinja," Naru explained. "Usagi was staring at one of the sakura trees, all moony, like she used to get. We bugged her about it until she told us she was thinking of her wedding day. She knew exactly what dress she was going to wear, which was your mother's kimono. She wanted me to be the maid of honor, since we'd known each other longest, but Ami was supposed to plan for the guests and everything else. Minako was supposed to do her hair and makeup. Makoto was supposed to bake the cake and make all the food. And Rei was supposed to be the miko while Grandfather Hino performed the ceremony. We all talked about what we wanted for ours and made a vow that no matter what any of us were doing we would all be there for each other."

She shook her head sadly. "No. Something really is wrong. She wanted all of us to be there. She even decided that you would give her away Shingo, and that Motoki had to be the one to give the first toast since he was her first crush. I don't know what's going on, but none of this is right. It's not what Usagi wanted."

"They got married in the courthouse," Ami added. "With no one there to stand for them."

Umino was shaking. He'd heard a rumor that Doctor Chiba had gotten married, right around the same time Usagi disappeared. He hadn't put the pieces together, but now he remembered seeing the man with a box, and inside he'd seen a paperweight just like the lotus blossom crystal Usagi always kept on her desk. He frowned, wishing he'd been more observant. He hadn't even realized Usagi was gone from Dark Crystal Hospital for weeks. Not until Naru had asked how she was doing and told him she hadn't heard from her best friend.

"I should have known something was wrong," he muttered.

Thinking back on it, he knew Usagi had never spoken of Doctor Chiba, and since she never hid anything, she would have if they'd been dating. He knew she was well liked by everyone at the hospital. Except Kuro Beryl, who had her eyes on the doctor almost constantly. He'd never understood her dislike for the bubbly blonde who never had an unkind word to say to anyone.

"Do you think she's alright?" Rei asked. "I mean, if she hasn't been seen in over a month, where is she? Why was she suddenly going to functions and fundraisers all dressed up? And why is she gone now? Did something happen to her?" She looked over at Ami, a hand covering her mouth, as she waited, praying they didn't hear the worst news of all.

"There's no obituary," Ami reassured them. "But I did find a report of an accident with Chiba's name on it. It said his wife was in the car." No one asked exactly how she had found it, just in case it involved getting into files she shouldn't have access to.

"I'm going to poke around at Dark Crystal," Umino said. "Maybe I can find something."

"I'll help you," Ami told him, her eyes glittering with a mix of anger and worry. "She worked in accounting. I've been to her office. We'll go there and see what we can come up with."

"When?" Rei asked.

"Tonight."

* * *

Usagi gasped as she glanced down at the screen of her phone. The message was from Beryl, and there was an attachment. She gulped, not sure she wanted to look. What new evil could the woman have planned for her? What new awful thing would she say?

In the months since Usagi and Mamoru had married, she had gotten more and more aggressive with her messages, telling Usagi she was worthless, stupid, and she should just kill herself and put Mamoru out of his misery. She'd tried to ignore the other woman, and had even considered telling Mamoru about it, but he didn't trust her at all, and it seemed he did trust Beryl. What could she possibly do?

"Don't open it, you idiot," she told herself. "Just pretend you never got it."

Usagi hadn't managed to be that strong even once. No matter how many times she told herself to simply block the messages, she had to know. She always regretted it.

The words startled her.

BERYL: I win.

The attachment made her cry. It was a picture of Beryl snuggled up to Mamoru's side, looking as though she had either just kissed him, or was about to. She wore a long purple dress, her hair down in waves, and Mamoru was in his black slacks and lab coat.

Was she saying they were…? Was Mamoru cheating on her? While she was trapped in bed carrying his twins, trying to keep them alive… was he out there with Beryl?

* * *

**Dark Crystal Hospital**  
**Chapter Two**

* * *

Beryl cackled like a witch, staring for one last moment at the message she had sent. The girl had read it. She could see that the little picture had moved down beside it. 'Take that you little brat,' she thought happily. Photoshop was amazing. She wondered why she hadn't thought of this sooner?

She noticed Zoicite glancing at her and quickly hid the phone, not wanting anyone else to see what she was planning. If she could get the stupid blonde girl to just run away all her problems would be solved. She would snatch Mamoru up and take his money faster than he could blink.

Tucking the phone into her pocket, Beryl moved away from the conference room, still laughing about what she had done. She'd be willing to bet the little bitch was sobbing by now. How dare she have what Beryl wanted.

It wasn't right that Beryl didn't have the richest, handsomest man. It wasn't right that she didn't have money or fame or a good family name. But she planned to make it right. She planned to get what she wanted, and if she had to find alternative means to take out her competition, well, so be it.

* * *

As Mamoru walked toward his office he could have sworn he was going insane, mad even. After going home to have dinner with Usagi, he'd had to return for an hour to attend a surgical consult. Now that it was over he had been ready to head out and was headed to his office to grab his things when he caught a glimpse of someone that looked familiar.

Had he just seen Doctor Umino bringing a young woman into the accounting offices? A woman who's face he recognized from his wife's photos. Mizuno, he thought. Mizuno Ami. She was a resident at Tokyo Jikei. What would she be doing at Dark Crystal?

What possible reason could she have to go into accounting. With Umino? Something was suspicious. Was his wife scheming to get money again? No. That couldn't possibly be it. He had just gotten a copy of their phone records. The only calls she made were to the OBGYN and him. Sometimes Beryl texted her, though he had never seen any indication that she'd replied and he had no idea what the two of them would have to talk about.

Also, Usagi hadn't left the house or had any visitors. He'd considered that normal until a few hours before when they'd talked at dinner. He never had any visitors. He'd simply assumed that was the way everyone was. Now he had to wonder how much emotional pain his wife was hiding, and how lonely she really was. That couldn't be good for her. Or the babies. He reminded himself, for the millionth time, he couldn't care for a thief. It was his babies he cared about.

Usagi was lonely. It hardly made sense to him. He'd never really needed a lot of friends, though he had made a few in his life. And four of them were on the hospital board. He saw them several times a week. He just didn't see the point of going out of his way to spend time with others.

Still, Ami was here and his wife needed her friends. Right there, just within reach. Maybe he could _casually_ bump into her, and Umino who was in his residency as well. And if he happened to bump into them he could _casually_ mention that his wife was lonely and needed someone to talk to. Decision made, Mamoru stepped towards the accounting offices.

Out of the corner of his eye he saw Beryl staring down at her phone, laughing like a hyena in the middle of the hallway. He shook his head. He couldn't stand the woman. She was always trying to cozy up to him. He had to move pretty quick to avoid her most of the time. That only hastened his steps toward the accounting department. He didn't want to deal with running from her again.

Mamoru opened the door and caught the tail end of a conversation.

"... has to know something. Maybe we can just find him and ask." That was from Umino.

"Do you think he'd even tell us?" Ami asked. "I mean, it's been months. Why hasn't she called? Maybe he won't let her. You don't think she's really hurt do you?"

"She can't be. There are no records of her being in the hospital here." Umino shook his head. "I don't know what we're going to find in all this."

"We have to do something. Usagi needs us. Please let her be okay," Ami looked on the verge of tears. They were both rifling through boxes in what had once been Usagi's office.

"My wife is fine," Mamoru said, startling both of them. They turned huge eyes on him. For a moment he thought they looked slightly guilty, but by the way Ami was tearing up he figured it had to be a trick of the light.

"Chiba-san," Umino said, bowing. "Where is Usagi-chan?"

"At home." Mamoru frowned. "Why don't you just call her?"

"Her phone is shut off." Ami said, as though it was the most obvious thing in the world.

"She has a new phone," he explained. Their faces paled. Mamoru realized then that something more was going on then he understood. He had assumed Usagi would have at least told her friends where she was. Why hadn't she? Was there a reason she hadn't contacted them? Was she ashamed of what she had done and trying to hide it from her friends?

"Is she alright?" Ami asked, her eyes welling up with tears.

He considered what, if anything, to tell them. On the one hand Usagi hadn't contacted them, but on the other she had admitted to being lonely. And based on what he'd seen and heard, they needed to know at least some of what was going on.

"She's as good as can be expected I suppose." He cleared his throat uncomfortably. For some reason he found himself feeling guilty and he didn't understand why. "We had a car accident a few weeks back. She's pregnant and had a partial placental abruption for one of the twins. They put her on steriods and bed rest."

Ami looked like she might break down and cry, but Umino was nodding. He had just finished a rotation for obstetrics. He waited to see what they would do, mind whirling. Maybe he shouldn't have told them, but he'd done it for her own good. Usagi might get upset, but whether she knew it or not she needed her friends.

"Why hasn't she called?" Umino asked, looking suspicious.

Mamoru cleared his throat again. He didn't want to lie to them, but he wasn't about to tell either of them what Usagi had done. Instead he changed the subject. "It's still rather early, would you like to come and see her?"

"Please!" Ami said enthusiastically.

"You can follow me then," he said softly.

* * *

Usagi had stared at the photo, tears streaking her face, for nearly five minutes before she found Beryl's mistake. In the background she could see a television. When she drew her thumbs outward on the phone screen and blew up the photo, she could see the headline at the bottom. It was from nearly a year before when they'd had a late bloom of sakura blossoms, which had caused a stir about bees as well as strange weather patterns. This year the trees had flowered right on time.

She was about to zoom out again when she noticed something else. The two figures had shadows from different angles. Mamoru's clothing had shadows to the right and Beryl's to the lower left. When she scanned closer she could see an uneven line where they met. Her figure had been transposed over his.

It was the hospital break room in the background. She could see that now. It certainly looked at first glance like it could have been taken that evening, but she would bet this picture was fake.

'Remember, Beryl's the same one who tried to frame you,' Usagi told herself, feeling stupid. 'Baka ne Usagi.'

She didn't bother to reply. Let Beryl think she'd won. The woman was trying to make her miserable enough to leave. That much was obvious. But it had been her meddling that had landed Usagi in the position she was in, forced into a marriage she didn't want. And even if she was miserable enough to leave, she couldn't. There was no way she could take care of herself and make it to thirty-seven weeks, and she wouldn't put her children at risk.

She closed the phone, detemined not to say anything about it to Mamoru, and had just put it on the nightstand when the front door opened. She heard voices. Familiar voices. She gasped in shock.

"... this side of town," a young woman said. Was it really Ami?

"My family estate was in holding until I came of age," Mamoru explained. What the hell was he doing with Ami? How had they run into each other? What was she doing here? If the girls knew what had happened, that Mamoru had forced her into this marriage, they would eviscerate him. She had to make them think everything was okay.

"This way," Mamoru said, and a moment later he had pulled the sliding door open and was leading Ami and Umino into the makeshift bedroom.

Usagi stared at her friends, tears streaming down her cheeks. "Ami," she whispered.

Blue hair fluttered as Ami raced around the end of the bed to where she sat propped against the pillows. "Moonie!" she whispered, throwing her arms around Usagi. "We were so worried. We didn't know where you were!"

"Moonie?" Mamoru questioned, smirking.

Umino cleared his throat. "It's what they all called her when we were younger. She was always mooning around, daydreaming about the future when she would be a famous writer and be married with a bunch of kids."

Usagi blushed, but her focus was on Ami, who was weeping all over her shoulder. She wrapped her arms around her friend and just held on. Ami always smelled like apple blossom and the familiar scent made her nostalgic. She couldn't help adding a few tears of her own.

"I missed you," Ami said.

"I missed you too."

"Hold on," Umino said from his side of the room, and he pulled out his phone. A moment later he had Naru on video-chat and Usagi heard her screaming through the phone.

"Oh kami! She's huge. Come here and see!"

Other voices came through the line. So many at once that Usagi was a bit startled. "Usagi!" Motoki and Shingo yelled, while the girls called for "Moonie."

"I want to see, give me the tablet," she heard Rei yell. Laughter burbled up out of her. She had missed them all so much.

"Hey, it's my sister," Shingo argued. "I should hold it."

Mamoru was laughing outright. "Why don't you just have them come over," he suggested to Umino.

"We're coming!" Rei said before he could pass on the message. The video chat ended and Umino sent them the address.

Meanwhile Ami was still clinging to Usagi, sobbing. "It's okay Ami," she whispered. "I'm alright."

Instead of listening to her, Ami pulled back, wiped her eyes and immediately dove for her wrist to take her pulse. Usagi groaned. "Ugh, more doctors. It's not bad enough Mamoru is constantly checking on me and hired a nurse, now I have you two to deal with." She giggled as she spoke though and knew the others weren't upset by her words.

It wasn't long before the parlor was crowded with her friends and her little brother. Usagi couldn't stop crying and she looked over at Mamoru, who seemed worried about her reaction and mouthed a thank you. She hadn't realized just how much she needed them.

Watching Makoto racing around the room, fluffing pillows, grabbing things she thought Usagi might want, even checking the plants, Usagi couldn't help but grin. Ami had left her side to hound Mamoru about every detail of her pregnancy with Umino listening in eagerly. Minako immediately decided Usagi needed a comfortable lounging robe and was on a shopping app on her phone clicking away. Naru had a million tips to make her feel better while she was pregnant. Rei had just plopped down beside her on the bed and grabbed her hand, squeezing slightly too tight and sitting with her quietly, which was unusual. Motoki had immediately hurried to the kitchen and started making snacks he knew Usagi liked.

But it was Shingo who got to her the most. All the others moved around or focused on something to help her, but Shingo sat quietly in the corner, looking at her mournfully. She waited for a lull in the conversations around the room before calling to him. He stood and crossed to her, leaning over to give her a second hug.

"What happened Usagi?" he asked. "I know we don't talk that much, but..." he trailed off.

"But what Shingo?"

"Why didn't you tell me you were getting married?"

Usagi sighed. She had no idea what to tell any of them. She looked at Mamoru and he shook his head. He hadn't told them anything. So it was up to her what story to tell. She couldn't lie worth a damn. They all knew her tells. But she could fudge the truth, just a little, so her husband didn't get murdered by her friends before he could even blink.

"A few months ago Mamoru found a discrepancy in the hospital funds," she explained. "He came and accused me of stealing and when I told him I hadn't done it but had no way to clear my name, he offered to help." It was as close as she could come to a lie. It was _sort of_ true. "We decided to get married and he hid the discrepancy, which gives me time to prove I'm innocent. And then I got pregnant. Then we had a car accident and it put one of the babies at risk, so here I am. I didn't mean to upset any of you, but I didn't want you dragged down with me if something happened, so I stayed away."

"Usagi!" Rei growled. "You should have come to me. I would have helped you."

"We all would have," the others chimed in.

"We know you would never do anything like that!" Motoki said, putting a plate full of chicken sliders in front of her.

"The account the money was funneled into had my name," Usagi explained.

Shingo started laughing at that point. "We all know you aren't that stupid Usagi," he said. "Only an idiot would put the money in their own name." He shook his head. "And only a moron would believe it."

She chanced a glance at Mamoru, but he was sitting on the couch, looking down at the floor, not making eye contact.

* * *

Mamoru sat quietly in his office. He was still in shock at what Usagi had done. Every word she'd spoken the night before was technically the truth, but instead of painting him as the villain, like he'd assumed, she'd made him into a hero. And he knew why. He'd researched her friends and her brother.

Rei wasn't only a lawyer but a miko who had a black belt in two forms of martial arts. Makoto didn't only own a bakery, she had won dozens of competitions for different forms of martial arts and was considered a master, even at only twenty-six years old. Ami wasn't only a doctor in training but a well-known computer genius who had friends that were engineers and software designers. Minako was incredibly popular in the movie industry and had the ear of some very powerful people. The four of them alone could either murder him or destroy his reputation.

And Shingo. Tsukino Shingo was the youngest editor-in-chief of a newspaper in the city, but he was well liked and highly respected. Mamoru's research seemed to suggest that Usagi had worked to put Shingo through college while they waited for their inheritance. He idolized his sister and in a recent editorial had stated that he would love to make her dream of becoming an author come true. Mamoru was pretty certain the piece had been written when they couldn't find her, specifically to make sure Usagi knew he would be there for her no matter what.

Mamoru was amazed. The only close friends he had ever had were Motoki, who he'd grown apart from when his inheritance came in, and four other men who had found themselves in the same predicament as Mamoru had. Jadeite and Zoicite were brothers whose parents had died just before they turned eighteen and nineteen respectively. Nephrite's family fortune had passed to him on his twentieth birthday after his parents had died when he was fifteen, and Kunzite's mother had passed the reins to him after his father's death when he was twenty-two.

They'd all discovered at a young age that a pretty face and a sweet story didn't mean anything. Because that pretty face usually hid a viper who would do anything to get her claws on their wealth and their name. One woman had even tried to convince Mamoru she'd gotten pregnant from a one night stand with him, and that he'd been too drunk to remember. But Mamoru never had more than one drink in public. He'd known instantly her story was false and the others had backed him up, as he had done for them on several occasions.

Now they were all members on the board of Dark Crystal Hospital. Together the others owned about half the hospital, while Mamoru owned half. What's more, the four men all had similar stipulations before they could get parts of their inheritances as well. He shook his head. He'd been the only one to come up with a solution.

But now he wondered how much he really knew about what had happened. Was his wife really guilty? What her brother had said struck a cord in Mamoru. He knew Usagi wasn't stupid. She wouldn't have put money in her own name, unless it was a secondary ploy to convince people she hadn't done it. But the evidence Beryl had given him looked incontrovertible. The funds had been moved from Usagi's computer, using her user name and password. He shook his head. He had to figure out what was really going on.

With a sigh he leaned forward and pulled his list of patients for the day across the desk. He couldn't sit there all morning thinking about his and Usagi's friends. Or how happy she'd looked even while she was crying. He pulled out another form. He was going to change his schedule. She needed him. She needed company during the day. It wasn't fair to keep her trapped alone in the house with only a housekeeper and occasional nurse visit for company.

* * *

Usagi sat up in the bed when Mamoru walked through the door. He always came home at one in the afternoon now. It had been nearly two weeks since he'd changed his schedule. He would come in and they would talk. Sometimes he just sat at the desk he'd had moved into the room, reading through medical journals or doing paperwork. Even that made her feel less lonely and she was grateful.

The nursery was fully painted now and they had spent several days choosing the furniture. Yumemi Yumeno was probably one of the sweetest women Usagi had ever met, and that was saying something as she was friends with Ami and the others. The famous artist never showed her own face in her self-portraits, which had made Usagi sad. She'd reminded the woman that it wasn't her face, but her art that people were interested in, and told her she looked beautiful, which she did. Glasses didn't make a person ugly. She shook her head at the memory.

"How are you feeling?" Mamoru asked.

"Fine. A little tired today."

"I know it's hard on you, but it won't be long," Mamoru promised. His hands were behind his back and he was smiling.

Usagi only smiled at him. He couldn't understand, not being in the bed himself. Time seemed to move slower than normal for her. And she was constantly uncomfortable. It did help that he came home early, and it helped that one or another of her friends was always dropping by. But in spite of that she was still trapped.

"I brought you something," he said. He'd been doing that off and on for the past two weeks as well. And he was making her fall more and more in love with him every single day. It wasn't fair. If only he could learn to love her too.

"What is it?" she asked.

Mamoru moved to stand in front of her and pulled his hand from behind his back. "This little one needs a home," he said, his voice soft as he brought his other hand up underneath a little black kitten. "She and another kitten were found under a car at the hospital this morning. When I saw her, I immediately thought of you."

A moment later the tiny ball of fur was in her hands. Usagi stared at the kitten, whose large red eyes stared at her intelligently, then broke into sobs holding her carefully to her chest. "Arigato," she whispered. "She's so precious." The kitten had a crescent shaped mark on her forehead and her fur was silky smooth and soft.

"What are you going to name her?" Mamoru asked.

Sniffling, she looked back down at the little kitten. "Luna," she said without hesitation. "I'll name her Luna."

"It's perfect." Mamoru grinned at her, looking pleased with himself, and Usagi hid a smile. He really was trying to make her happy. "I have the other kitten and I wondered if you could find him a home. He looks a lot like little Luna here, but has white fur and blue eyes."

"Minako," Usagi answered instantly. Her friend needed a companion. One that didn't need constant attention and could mostly care for himself, but who she could love on. A cat was perfect.

"Why her?" Mamoru asked. He seemed very curious about all her friends.

"Because she's lonely." Usagi shrugged. It was hard to explain how she knew things her friends needed. She'd always been that way. "Because she's afraid of making another attempt at a relationship. She thinks she's cursed."

"Cursed?" Mamoru raised his eyebrow and Usagi bit her lip. Every time he did that she wanted to jump him. She wished she didn't have to wait so long to be intimate with him.

"She thinks she can never be happy in a relationship. I suppose so far she's been right. But there has to be one man out there who would be perfect for her. One man who won't back down when she gets pushy, who doesn't give a crap about her money, and who sees who she really is, and what she wants. Someone who would never hurt her." She shivered. "Her last boyfriend hit her. She's been a bit gun-shy ever since."

"I didn't know any of that," Mamoru murmured. "I wouldn't have even guessed. She always looks so happy." Usagi noticed his fists had clenched when she mentioned the abusive boyfriend. He was the protective sort and she knew he wouldn't tolerate anyone being abused.

"She's a very good actress," Usagi told him, her eyes back on the little kitten who had just yawned adorably. She reached for her phone to call Minako as Mamoru went into the hallway and brought back a shoebox where the other kitten was sleeping curled up on an old t-shirt. She reached into the box and stroked his fur as Minako answered the phone.

* * *

Zoicite strolled into his office almost two hours late. It wasn't as though he really had set hours, but he didn't want anyone to remark on his tardiness. He had done something that he knew was wrong. 'But,' he told himself for the third time, 'I have to know the truth.'

For the past several weeks he had been keeping an eye on Beryl. Something about her behavior didn't sit right with him, but he couldn't put a finger on what it was. He'd tried to get a glimpse of her phone several times with no luck. He knew something was wrong however, and he had a strong vibe it had something to do with Mamoru.

Fiddling with his tie, he sank into his chair, leaned back, and stared up at the ceiling. Mamoru was acting differently. He had cut his days short, only working in the mornings and always rushed out of the office as soon as it was time to go. And he smiled more. What was up with him?

Zoicite and the others had figured Mamoru and his new wife had some sort of arrangement, though he'd never said a word about it. Nephrite's opinion had changed however and he was starting to think the other man was right. Mamoru was in love. Usagi didn't seem remotely his type. She was too soft, too generous, and not nearly jaded enough. But that was just the sort of woman he probably needed. Her sunshine and rainbows attitude was a perfect counterbalance for Mamoru's rain and shadows.

So what was Beryl trying to accomplish? In an effort to discover that, when he'd learned she would be out of the office this morning he had snuck inside and hidden a camera in the painting behind her desk. It was at just the right angle to see her computer and her phone if she was sitting in her chair. Zoicite wasn't about to sit back and let her destroy his friend.

* * *

"I want to talk to you."

Startled, Mamoru looked up from the files he was updating and stared at Rei. Why was she in his office? What did she want? Had Usagi told her that he'd forced her into marriage? Or was it something else. Was Usagi alright? Had she been hurt somehow? Rei had been with her that morning. What if...?

"Breathe," Rei ordered.

Mamoru pulled himself back together. Strange, he'd never panicked like that before. He focused on calming himself and lifted his eyes to look at the young woman standing at the other side of his desk. She'd closed the office door and was giving him a piercing look. Back under control, Mamoru gestured for her to sit.

"I needed to ask you about something," Rei said, her voice soft. "I want to throw a small party at your place. Nothing huge. Just friends of Usagi and friends of yours."

"Why?" he asked.

"A celebration of your marriage. I know you didn't get to have anyone there, so I thought this would be perfect."

Mamoru frowned. He wasn't sure it was a good idea. Usagi was on bed-rest. What if she got it in her mind to help decorate or something? She could get hurt. And his babies. 'Remember, she's a thief,' he reminded himself. Yeah, it was the money he was concerned about. The money. That was why.

"I uh, don't want Usagi involved with all of that," he said softly. "I don't really trust her with money."

Rei's hysterical laughter shocked him. "Are you kidding me?" she asked. "You have to be joking." She wiped her eyes. "That was a good one, Mr. Panic." She continued to laugh. "That was so funny!"

Mamoru only raised an eyebrow, waiting for her to explain.

"Usagi bad with money?" Rei shook her head. "I don't think so. She's hardly even touched her inheritance. Only enough to pay off the rest of Shingo's college costs, and to put up most of the cost of Makoto's bakery. The girl learned everything about money from her mother. Most frugal woman in history. Tsukino Ikuko could turn trash into treasure, and often did." Rei was still giggling every few words.

Mamoru wasn't really sure what to think. This wasn't the first time one of her friends had said something about Usagi being good at pinching pennies. And it was the second mention of an inheritance. Usagi had screamed about it once, during one of their arguments, then she'd gone racing out into the evening, almost three months pregnant at the time, without even taking her jacket. He'd had to turn on the tracking app in her phone to find her and by the time he had she was shivering like a leaf in the wind.

Focusing on Rei, he changed the subject back to the party itself. "When?"

Usagi had over a month left to go carrying the babies. She couldn't get too stressed or do any lifting. If the placenta detached from the uterine wall she could bleed to death. It was rare, but it had happened. And the babies could be at risk. As it was she had to take steroids, was given IV fluids and medication once a day, and was constantly monitored for signs of bleeding. So far the abruption hadn't gotten any worse, but the danger was there.

"I was hoping for this Saturday. Mina-chan and I would do all the decorating ourselves so there wouldn't be any strangers to upset her. She can lounge on the couch through the whole party if you want. But she needs a change of scene, and some fun. She's been trapped in that bed for a long time."

"Fine," Mamoru muttered. "I want her to have fun, but I don't want a huge party."

"The guest list is up to you. How many friends do you want to invite?"

Mamoru frowned. He didn't really have a lot of friends. Motoki was more Usagi's friend than his now. But he could invite the other guys. "Four," he said. "All of you and four others."

Rei seemed surprised, but didn't say anything about it. She sat there, quietly, and stared at him for several long minutes. It was as though she was staring into his soul and he didn't like it. Then she gave a soft sigh.

"We know Usagi lied to us."

Mamoru reeled back, unsure what to say. He stared at her, worried. "About what?"

"Did you think we wouldn't see through that bullshit story about you helping her?" Rei asked, shaking her head. "We know exactly when Usagi is lying, and if you knew her at all, you would have figured it out by now too. You pressured her or forced her somehow into marriage."

"What business is it of yours?" Mamoru asked.

"Usagi is my business, and since she's in love with you, you're my business too."

Mamoru shook his head. "Usagi isn't in love with me."

Rei glared at him. "Of course she is baka."

"I'm not exactly a lovable guy Hino-san."

"Oh don't go all formal on me," she groused. "I'm trying to be a friend to you here so the least you could do is shut up and listen."

Taken aback, Mamoru stared at her. She was trying to be his friend? How?

"Let me tell you how I met Usagi," she said. "She, Ami, and Naru came to the Jinja one afternoon. It was gorgeous out and I was in a great mood. But then these women came up to me. They were harassing me about something, accusing me of doing something I didn't do. Well Usagi, who I had only ever seen once before, stormed right up to those women and told them I could never do something bad, that I was her friend and she wouldn't let them talk to me like that."

She had a nostalgic half smile on her face and seemed to be looking into the past rather than seeing him or his office. "I had been so lonely for so long. My father had pushed me into going to a catholic school. Do you know what Catholic school is like for a Shinto miko? It was hell. I hadn't made any friends in the eight years I had attended. None. And then this little blonde slip of a girl I'd met only once claims she's my friend and defends me. My entire life changed in that moment."

Rei grinned. "A few weeks later she found me crying about something one of the other girls at my school had said. I let it all out. How I was ostracized, teased, and treated badly. Do you know what Usagi did?" She laughed. "She went to my father's office and ordered him to change my school. Told him that if he loved me he had better think about what was best for me rather than what was easiest for him. I don't know everything that was said, but not only did he change my school, he's tried hard to be a real dad ever since. Started taking me out for lunch once a week."

"Why?" Mamoru wasn't sure how to phrase his question, but Rei seemed to understand what he wanted to know.

"When I was six my mother got pregnant with what would have been my baby brother. Something happened during delivery. I never really knew what, but my mother and brother both died. My father was never the same. He couldn't handle anything. Sent me to live with my grandfather and for about a year he hid himself away from the world. Then one day he came back, but he wasn't smiling and happy. He didn't tell jokes anymore. And because I look so much like my mother I think it hurt him to see me. She was his entire world, and without her he just couldn't handle life. He's gotten better. He and my grandfather actually started talking about her, and I think he came back to life a little."

Mamoru hated hearing the story. With Usagi and the babies already in jeopardy the last thing he wanted to think about was another woman dying in childbirth. "Why are you telling me this?" he asked.

"Because until I met Usagi, I never really understood love. Sure my grandfather loved me, and my father in his own way, but I had never really seen love in action. Usagi taught me what it means to love and I want her to be happy. She loves you, whether you know it or not. And I don't want her to live a life forever unloved in return. So it's time for you to figure out what's really going on, before you lose everything."

Rei reached forward and patted his hand. "Think about it." Then she stood and left his office.

Leaning back in his chair, Mamoru stared out the window. He was learning so much about his wife he had never imagined. Was she really in love with him? That didn't make any sense. He'd been deliberately hurtful several times and he knew he was a jerk even without trying. He'd forced her into marriage, forced her to carry his children. Forced her to live on an allowance, and he believed the worst about her.

Shaking his head, Mamoru tried to dismiss what Rei had told him. Tried.

* * *

"What are you doing?" Kunzite asked, peering over Zoicite's shoulder. "Why are you watching Beryl?"

"I don't really know yet," the other man replied. "I just have a feeling we should be worried about her. I think she's scheming something, and I'm pretty sure it involves Mamoru's wife."

Kunzite stepped back, worried. He didn't usually try to get involved in his friend's lives, but he was upset with Mamoru. He'd figured out what his friend had done, pressuring Usagi into marrying him. How he could actually believe that girl capable of theft was beyond Kunzite. He knew desperate women. He knew all their nasty schemes. Usagi was nothing like them.

No, Usagi was one of those women who didn't care about money in the slightest, and according to his research she had plenty of it herself and almost never touched it. She was sweet and kind and not the least bit selfish. He'd actually thought about hitting Mamoru when he'd discovered the discrepancy in the funds and realized what his friend had pulled.

Now though, Mamoru was changing. In fact, "Mamoru has invited us to go to a party this Saturday. At his house."

"What?" Zoicite pushed back his chair and turned to stare at Kunzite. "Mamoru?"

"Yes, Mamoru. Apparently Usagi's friends have recently discovered their marriage and are insisting on throwing a party." He settled onto the couch and put his elbows on his knees, staring at his friend. "Get this, Mamoru has warned us away from the girls."

"What girls?"

Kunzite chuckled. "There are four single women among Usagi's friends. Mamoru insists we don't play with their hearts. He was especially concerned about the one named Minako."

"Aino Minako?" Zoicite asked. Kunzite nodded. "The actress? No wonder he was concerned. She had a boyfriend about two years ago that beat her up because she got a leading role in a movie and he didn't get in."

"What?" Kunzite was shocked and furious. No man should ever lay hands on a woman. Ever.

"She hasn't dated since," Zoicite continued.

"What are we talking about?" Nephrite was peering in the office, Jadeite behind him. "You two are discussing women? This is new."

"It's Usagi's friends," Kunzite explained. "And Mamoru tells me they're off limits."

"Interesting," Jadeite said, chuckling. "I think Nephrite here might be right." He closed the door behind him. "Maybe Mamoru really is in love with her."

"He forced her to marry him," Kunzite grumbled. "That doesn't say love to me."

"Oh he's in love alright," Nephrite said. "He cares about her friends. He also leaves early every day so she isn't, and I quote, 'lonely.' Which means he cares about what she wants. That means he loves her."

Kunzite shook his head. It didn't compute for him. "Regardless, he asked us to go to a little party. No guests. Just her friends and us. He doesn't want her getting up and trying to do anything, so it's just a small thing."

"Why have a party if she can't get up and enjoy it?" Jadeite asked.

"Not sure. Her friend Rei came up with the idea. Change of scene or something."

Kunzite didn't really care about the party portion of it. He was interested in seeing Usagi again, just to make sure for himself that Mamoru was treating her right. And he wanted to check on Minako as well. Make sure no one was bothering her. His little sister had once been hit by a boyfriend. Of course Kunzite had taught him never to lay a hand on a woman in anger again, and to make sure the lesson got through, he'd broken both the man's hands to give him time to think it over.

"What on earth are you doing watching Beryl?" Jadeite asked, peering at the computer screen, which Zoicite had forgotten to turn off.

"He thinks she's messing with Usagi," Kunzite said. "If she is, we'll put a stop to it."

"Best way to check on Usagi is to go to the party," Nephrite said.

"Then I suppose we're going," Kunzite sighed, trying not to show how much he was looking forward to it. He'd seen Aino Minako in a few of her movies. He hadn't known she'd been in a bad relationship. Now he wondered what else he didn't know about her.

"What are their names?" Jadeite asked.

"Aino Minako, Hino Rei, Kino Makoto, and Mizuno Ami."

"Did you say Mizuno Ami?" Zoicite asked, looking surprised.

"Hai." Kunzite stared at his friend, who looked wide-eyed and swallowed hard. What was up with the man?

"She topped my score, ranking highest in Tokyo for high school entrance exams. Perfect score."

"I've heard of Kino," Nephrite said. "One of her students joined my advanced class."

"Hino Rei is rather well known. She's a lawyer who does a whole bunch of pro-bono cases and also runs the Hikawah Jinja. She's rather impressive."

"Guys, Mamoru said to lay off the girls. You're all acting like you've never met a woman before. Remember the shit we've been through," Kunzite added.

"These are friends of Usagi's," Zoicite said softly. "We wouldn't treat them badly. And I hardly doubt they're like any of the women we're used to. Plus," he added, looking at Kunzite, "Minako has made a fortune acting. She wouldn't be interested in your money."

* * *

"You should go to the police," Ami said softly, looking Usagi in the eyes. "We have the proof you need."

Usagi sighed. "Ami, it's more complicated than that. I want to give her a shot to come clean. Maybe if she tells Mamoru herself, he'll forgive her. She's just hurt and jealous and trying to lash out."

"Moonie," Rei said, moving closer, "this isn't a woman like you. She doesn't care about Mamoru at all. She only wants his money and his name. She won't stop at one attempt to make him hate you."

Usagi didn't tell them her husband wasn't in love with her anyway. It didn't really matter what Beryl did. She had no way out of the marriage even if she wanted to leave, and she didn't want to. Mamoru was being so kind to her and seemed to almost think her a friend now. She couldn't lose that.

"I don't know. Give me a little time to think about it. Maybe if we reached out to her."

Rei rolled her eyes but didn't say anything. The party would be starting in just a couple hours and they still had a lot of work to do.

* * *

"Keep your eyes closed until I tell you," Mamoru ordered.

"Okay?" it was obviously a question, though she knew about the party.

"I think the girls want to see your reaction to what they did in there."

"Oh. Alright." Usagi closed her eyes.

Mamoru reached under her, lifting her gently under the knees and behind her back. She was heavier than she had been, being well into her eighth month of pregnancy with twins, but still didn't seem like she'd gained enough weight. She was so tiny and fragile in his arms that he had a sudden urge to hide her away from the world. Shaking his head at his foolishness, he carried her into the living room and settled her on the couch.

When he had stepped back, he looked towards Rei and Minako. Both girls nodded.

"You can look now," he told her.

Usagi opened her eyes and stared. Minako had put twinkling white Christmas lights, that she called fairy lights, all around the room. Rei had made little paper bells that hung from the ceiling. Greenery circled most of the room and there were little bubbles floating out of a machine that was making them at a rapid clip. The housekeeper was going to hate him for that one. The whole room looked like a wedding planner's bag had thrown up, in his opinion, but Usagi got tears in her eyes and clapped and squealed.

He would never understand women, but he was glad she was happy.

Soon the rest of their friends had arrived and Mamoru stepped back to watch them all interact with Usagi. It seemed like even his own friends adored her. How she twined everyone around her little finger was anybody's guess, but it was rather funny to watch. Everyone asked what she wanted and brought her anything she could possibly think of. He smiled. She looked beautiful sitting there with a huge smile on her face.

* * *

Ami wasn't sure what to make of the man with strawberry blonde hair. His name was Zoicite and he had been staring at her almost all night. The party was small, hardly enough people to be called a party, and very laid back. Minako and Rei had done all the decorating, and it was very cute, but her mind was occupied with other things. Namely the woman named Beryl who Usagi refused to call the police about.

"Did you want a drink?"

Startled, Ami looked up at Zoicite. Those were the first words he'd spoken to her all night. She tried not to giggle as she held up her full glass to show him she didn't need anything. He was rather cute, playing with his long ponytail nervously. It occurred to her he wasn't used to being at a party like this one. What sort of parties _was_ he used to?

"I'm alright. You can sit with me if you want," she offered. She knew what it was like to be uncomfortable after all. She always had been until Usagi and Naru came into her life, and soon the others as well.

"Uh, thanks," Zoicite murmured, then sat in the chair that was diagonal to hers. "So, uh, are you enjoying the uh, party?"

Ami giggled. "Yes. I've been dragged to parties just like these since I was fourteen. Usagi and Minako used to throw them."

"Like this?" Zoicite asked, looking confused.

"Oh we went to bigger parties once in a while. But when it was something special it was just us. That way I didn't have to try and mingle." Ami shivered. "I hated it. I was never very good at small talk."

"Me either," Zoicite said. "I uh, I used to pretend I was someone else when I went to parties. Like I would imagine I was James Bond pretending to be me. It sort of helped."

Ami laughed. "I never thought to try something like that. Why does your name sound so familiar to me?" she wondered aloud.

"High school entrance exams. We competed for the top spot."

"That's right," Ami said, excited. "You only missed one question." She was impressed.

"You didn't miss any," he said, blushing. "You were uh, sort of, uh, my first crush."

* * *

"He reminds me of someone," Makoto muttered. "But who?" She couldn't keep her eyes off of Nephrite, who was the tallest man she had ever seen. In comparison she actually felt small, which was sort of nice.

"Please tell me you're not going to compare him to your old sempai," Naru said softly.

"Not him. Definitely not him. It's in the eyes. You see? He's tough. I bet he could take me in a fight, but his eyes are gentle. Nothing like my old sempai."

Naru shrugged. "I say you should just go talk to him."

"Are you kidding me?" She turned to her friend. "What do I have compared to him? I'm a nobody. An orphan no one but you guys ever cared about."

"You're an orphan?" A deep voice asked from behind her.

Makoto turned and her eyes widened as she looked up, and up, and up some more. He had to be at least six and half feet tall. "Y-yes."

"I'm sorry to hear that," he said. "I lost my parents when I was fifteen."

"Oh." Makoto couldn't think of anything else to say. "Sorry."

"Why do you think no one else cares?" he asked.

Makoto blushed, and looked away. She hadn't intended for him to hear that.

"I'm sorry," he said, a finger under her chin as he tilted her face back up. "That was too personal. I haven't even introduced myself. Yoshida Nephrite at your service."

"Kino Makoto," she whispered, her face burning.

"I've heard a lot about you. Your record is rather impressive. I have one of your old students. Why did you stop teaching Kenpo?"

"Well, my bakery opened," Makoto explained. "I didn't have time for advanced classes anymore. I still teach the kids and the classes for self defense though."

"One of these days," Nephrite said, "I would love to spar with you."

"R-really?" Makoto felt her stomach leap. Somehow his words had seemed to have two meanings and she could picture herself jumping him.

"I think you sell yourself short Makoto," he said, startling her. "I'm sure many people care about you very much. Don't let other people get in your head and make you think less of yourself. You're strong, talented, smart, and incredibly kind. I've heard all about you from your student, remember? Not to mention," he added, "you're quite beautiful."

Makoto melted. No one had ever called her beautiful before. She saw a gleam in Nephrite's eyes and thought perhaps he was thinking of something more too. She felt positively tiny next to him, and he had a sweet nature. She wondered if she would see him again.

"Would you mind if I came by your bakery some time?" he asked. "I sort of have a sweet tooth."

* * *

Motoki handed Usagi a drink and turned back to Mamoru. "How have you been?" he asked. "Really I mean, not the shit they put in the papers." Mamoru shrugged, making Motoki growl. "Seriously dude. What's the point of having friends if you won't talk to them?"

"I don't know. Motoki, you know I've never been too good at the whole friend thing. I'm a jerk and we both know it."

Motoki raised his eyebrows. "We also both know it's only a defense mechanism. Don't be a baka. I'm your friend. Talk."

"There isn't much to say, at least until I met Usagi. Before that it was the same old shit I faced in high school on a larger scale. Women casing me, trying to trick me into marriage. Men trying to get the better of me on everything, like me having money means I have a big ego. No one even sees the real me."

"I did," Motoki argued. "They do," he pointed at the four men who had come to the little party just because Mamoru asked. "She does," he pointed to Usagi who was talking to Naru about what it was like to have a newborn in the house. "Even those girls do. Shingo and Umino. Some people see you Mamoru. The trick is recognizing it when it happens. Then you have to hold on to those people."

Mamoru grunted. Punching him lightly in the arm, Motoki laughed. "You have got to loosen up."

* * *

Jadeite knew within two minutes of meeting Hino Rei that he had found 'the one.' She hardly paid attention to him and he was ready to throw himself at her feet and beg for more. 'Idiot,' he chastised himself. 'She probably doesn't even know you're alive.' Still, he couldn't help wanting to just stand there and talk to her forever.

He was in a three-way conversation with Rei and Shingo about some scandal he had recently written an article about, but Jadeite had hardly heard a word. Rei had her long dark hair loose, was wearing a red mini-dress, and had most of her attention on the younger man. Jadeite couldn't tear his eyes away.

Suddenly she turned her full attention on him. Jadeite gulped, realizing Shingo had left the room. He stared at her for another minute. He could picture kissing her until they were breathless.

"You're drooling," Rei commented, smirking.

"Huh? What?"

She laughed then. "You're drooling. Are you thinking about chocolate or something?"

Jadeite realized she was giving him an out so he didn't feel embarrassed. Instead of taking it, he shook his head. "No," he admitted. "You're the most gorgeous woman I've ever seen."

Rei rolled her eyes. "Beauty isn't everything."

"You're smart too," he added.

"That's a little better," Rei said, chuckling. "Usagi said you're on the board at the hospital and that you do a lot of volunteer work. Where do you volunteer?"

Jadeite flushed. Trust Usagi to mention that. "Uh, the youth center. There are a lot of troubled teens. I almost went down a bad path myself. If Zo and the others hadn't set me straight I might not even be here today, so I do what I can."

"That's admirable."

"I've heard you do a lot of pro-bono cases," Jadeite said, turning the conversation back to her. He always felt a little uncomfortable when people praised him.

"I do. I was hurt by someone a long time ago. Now I make it my mission to help others who have been hurt."

"That's good," Jadeite said, though he found himself wondering who had hurt her, and how. And what had happened to them.

"He got away with it," Rei said, as though reading his mind. "A lot of people get away with hurting others."

"Can it be stopped?" Jadeite asked.

"Only if the law is changed. That's one of the things I'm working on." Then she changed the subject. "So what do you do outside of work and volunteering?"

"Mostly hang out with my brother and go to stupid parties I'd rather avoid," he admitted.

"Why would you rather avoid them?" Rei asked.

So Jadeite told her. He explained what it was like to never be seen as a real person. To have women try to trick him and men try to surpass him, and nobody see him for who and what he was. He told her how lonely it could be when he was afraid of making a real friend other than the other guys, and how he was terrified to date anyone because of what had happened to Mamoru.

Rei listened rather intently as he spoke, then smiled. "Well Jadeite," she said. "You've just made a new friend. And I'll make you a promise. I will never try to trick you into anything. Never try and do what that bitch did to Mamoru. But," she smirked. "I think I am going to chase you."

Jadeite gulped. "What?"

"I like you," Rei said, laughing. "I like you a lot. You're easy to talk to, incredibly cute, and you think I'm gorgeous. So, if you want, I'd like to date you. I'll warn you though, it will be a wild ride." She paused. "You're drooling again."

Jadeite laughed. "Marry me."

Rei laughed too. "Maybe I will," she smirked.

* * *

Shingo stepped into the office where Mamoru was leaning back in his chair staring at the ceiling, throwing a rubber ball into the air and catching it. He'd debated with himself for weeks about having this discussion. It was obvious that Usagi was in love with the man, even though they all knew the situation wasn't as rosy as she'd painted it. Somehow or another he had either tricked or coerced Usagi into marriage.

Mamoru had escaped from the party a few minutes before, and Shingo, not wanting to miss the opportunity to talk to him alone, had followed. Carefully watching Mamoru for the past few weeks had told Shingo enough. Usagi was head over heels in love with Mamoru, but Mamoru was only on the edge. He might be falling, but he wasn't there yet.

"Can I talk to you?" Shingo asked.

Mamoru shot up in his chair, then nodded and pointed to the one across the desk. He didn't speak, and was looking a little guilty. Shingo thought that only proper. He was sure Rei had told him what they suspected earlier in the week. He settled into the seat and crossed his arms over his chest, watching the other man. It took a moment to put his thoughts in order.

"The way things are now, you don't deserve my sister," he said. "We have proof that she didn't steal the money, and we know who did, not that you'll listen. If you'd known her at all you never would have believed she'd done it. I'm going to tell you this, and then I'm going to walk away, because I really don't care what you have to say for yourself."

He paused, only for a moment, to gauge the other man's reaction. "I'm trying my best to let Usagi make her own decisions. She gave up just about everything for me. Our parents died just as she was about to graduate high school. Instead of going to college she decided to get a job and make sure I could go to school, then put me through the first two years of college before our inheritance came in. She didn't steal a thing and I think you're finally beginning to see that, which is a good step, but it isn't enough."

"The deal is, if you can make my sister happy, then she stays with you. But if you hurt her I will take her away from you so fast you won't have time to blink. Find a way to deserve her, or you'll end up alone."

He stood then, and without so much as another look at Mamoru, he left the office. After giving Usagi a hug goodbye, he hurried out of the house as well. The last thing he wanted was a confrontation that might upset Usagi, but he'd had to say what was on his mind. Maybe it was the last push Mamoru needed to realize what he had before it was too late.

* * *

Minako grabbed her coat and headed out the door. Most of the others had left an hour before, but she'd wanted a few minutes alone with Usagi. It had been a fun evening and she'd laughed a lot. Kunzite had flirted with her several times, which she enjoyed, but as always never let get past that point.

That evening Minako and Naru had walked into the hallway at one point to see Rei pushing Jadeite into the wall and kissing him, which he seemed to enjoy a great deal. She'd watched Nephrite treat Makoto like a princess, and the way Ami and Zoicite had clicked instantly. She had felt a little sad.

Her own love life hadn't been so great. It was smarter and easier to keep men at a distance. Otherwise they could hurt you. She had satisfied herself that Mamoru would in fact never hurt her friend before she'd even left the first night a month before, but she had always had a hard time trusting.

Looking up at the stars and the sliver of moon, Minako wished she could find someone who actually loved her for herself. She really hated the dating game. It would be so much easier if people just met and clicked with someone, like she'd seen with the others that night. Unfortunately, that wasn't her lot in life.

The walk to her apartment wasn't too long from Mamoru's house, and she'd had two glasses of wine so she avoided her car and walked to the front gate. It really was a beautiful night. Usagi had looked happy. She'd missed her best friend.

"What the hell are you doing?"

Minako spun, automatically aware of her surroundings and ready for a fight. Makoto and Rei had worked with her until she could defend herself. She relaxed slightly when she saw it was only Kunzite, but since she didn't know him well yet, didn't let down her guard.

"What do you mean?" she asked.

"Why are you walking, alone, at night?"

Minako frowned at him. "I have every right to walk where I want, when I want. Thank you for your concern, but I don't need a keeper."

Kunzite growled. "There are bad people out at night."

"There are bad people out in the day too," Minako argued. "If I stopped living my life because of the threat of coming across someone bad I would never leave home."

"Then walk with someone!" he demanded.

He was pissing her off. "What the hell gives you the right to tell me what to do?" she asked. "I'm not a child, and I can defend myself if I need to." She turned and started walking.

He followed.

"What are you doing?" she asked.

"Making sure you get home safely," he said, falling into step beside her.

She looked up and saw that his eyes were moving around them, checking every direction and wanted to laugh. What did the rich boy think he was going to do? Beat up anyone who looked at her twice? That was ridiculous. She could take care of herself. Instead of arguing she let him walk beside her. At least it wasn't lonely. She could almost pretend they were walking home from a date and that she had a life outside of acting.

"Makoto walked home alone," she said after a few minutes of silence.

"No she didn't. Nephrite gave her a ride."

Minako hadn't known that. She frowned. "What would you even do if someone tried to attack me?"

Kunzite shrugged. "Stop them."

"That simple?" she asked.

He shrugged again and Minako wanted to scream at him. "I learned from Nephrite," was all he said.

"Learned what?" Minako asked.

"Martial arts."

"Oh. Well, what if an attacker had a gun?"

Kunzite frowned and reached out to stop her from walking. "I would find a way to disarm them. What is your problem with me making sure you're safe. Any decent guy would do the same."

Minako thought about it. The only decent guys she'd ever known were Motoki, Shingo, and Umino. The rest had been jerks who thought they could use her face and name to get famous, or who thought they had every right to control her, or hit her.

She frowned up at Kunzite. She thought he might be a little controlling, but never in a mean or abusive way. More like a protective way. And it struck her why he was following her. "I'm guessing you have sisters."

"Just one, why?"

"She's been hurt, hasn't she?"

"Yes. Her first boyfriend punched her."

"And because I've been abused you decided I need a protector?"

Kunzite shifted uncomfortably. The moonlight glinted on his silver-white hair. She wondered why his hair was white when he couldn't be much older then thirty. He cleared his throat, but still didn't answer.

Minako smiled. "Alright, I'll let you walk me home this once, but don't make it a habit."

He grumbled something under his breath, but she didn't catch the words. She thought she might have a problem teaching Kunzite she could take care of herself, but the fact that he was actually worried about her gave her hope, which was something she hadn't had in a very long time.

* * *

Usagi was sleeping on her side, her hands curled up under her cheek, belly protruding just over the edge of the bed. Mamoru sat in the chair next to the bed and just watched her. Ever since the party a week before, and Shingo's words, Mamoru hadn't been able to stop thinking about all the things he had missed, or even deliberately ignored.

His wife wasn't a saint. Not by a long shot. But she wasn't what he'd thought either. He didn't know who had stolen the money, but he was truly beginning to believe it wasn't her. And if it wasn't her, that made him a total and complete ass. He'd treated her like a common criminal, and he didn't deserve to have her in his life.

But what could he possibly do to change it?

Watching Usagi had become his favorite was to pass the time. The expressions on her face were adorable. And he'd come to see what Rei had meant about her lying. She had a very obvious tell. Her cheeks and upper chest would turn a rosy red and her eyebrow always started twitching. It was sort of cute.

Mamoru knew he had to re-examine his feelings for the little blonde. He had to figure out what the hell it was he was thinking and feeling. He was so accustomed to her now. Her every word, every move. The way she always snuggled a little deeper into the bed when she was tired. She would reach out sometimes, in the middle of the night, and just feel for him in the bed. And as soon as she felt him, she would go back to sleep. The way she ate far too fast, making her cheeks puff out like a little chipmunk. She had a secret passion for manga and loved to watch romantic movies.

He wished he knew what she was thinking. For that matter, he wished he knew what _he_ was thinking. With a sigh, he stood and reached for the lamp. After it was off he walked around the bed and climbed in on his side, tossing his shirt to the floor. In just his boxers he lay next to Usagi, who was snoring lightly, and closed his eyes.

He only knew one thing for sure. He didn't want to lose her.

* * *

Beryl glared at her phone. A message had just come through from Usagi. She opened it and read the words.

USAGI: Beryl, we really need to have a talk. I was hoping we could get together at some point, maybe after the babies are born and discuss something important. Please let me know what you think.

Rage filled her. She'd known Usagi was pregnant. Mamoru had mentioned it several times. But if those babies were born then it would tie Mamoru and Usagi together even if the woman ran away. Why hadn't she run away.

No. Beryl needed to force the issue. If she had to she would take her away, far away, where she couldn't get back to Mamoru. Then he would be lonely and Beryl could swoop in and comfort him. She liked the idea.

Usagi wanted to talk? Then they would talk. She reached for her purse and hurried out of the office.

* * *

Usagi was sitting on the couch. Mamoru had helped her get there before leaving for his meeting and Usagi was grateful for the change of scene. He'd been different in the past couple days. The excitement of knowing their children would soon be born had overwhelmed them both, but he had been nearly uncontained in his joy.

She had to wonder what it had been like for him, growing up with no brothers or sisters to play with. His parents had died just before he'd turned sixteen, and he had been alone in the world ever since. Now that he was about to become a father, he would never be alone again. She couldn't help but smile about that.

Shifting slightly, she groaned. Thankfully she only had eleven days left until she reached thirty-seven weeks. Eleven more days until it was safe for them to induce labor. She had to be grateful she'd made it this far. It had seemed endless.

Someone was pounding on the door. Usagi almost got up, reacting instinctively, but the weight of her belly reminded her why she was being so still. The babies needed her to go just a little further. A little more time and they would be in her arms. The knocking became insistent, almost frantic, and Usagi worried. Had something happened to her nurse? She was late. Maybe she'd been hurt.

"I've got it Chiba-san!" the housekeeper called. "You just stay there and rest." The matronly woman hurried past the living room and into the entryway.

"Where is she?" came a voice, and there was a light thud as though the door smacked into the wall.

"Kuro-san!" the housekeeper said, obviously shocked.

Usagi frowned, wondering what she should do. She reached for her phone, but it slipped from the edge of the table and onto the floor. Before she could think of reaching for it, Beryl was storming into the living room, her face a study of fury and mindless rage.

"Beryl?" Usagi questioned, not sure it was safe to speak, but also afraid not to.

Beryl's red eyes had a gleam in them Usagi couldn't read. She stomped across the room, fists clenched at her sides. "You whore. You stole my man." Her voice was a screech that hurt Usagi's ears. She looked on the edge of violence and Usagi felt her heart begin to race.

"Beryl, I didn't steal him. He forced me to marry him, because of you. Because of what you did."

Beryl gaped at Usagi, her fists opening and closing in rage. "What are you talking about?" she asked, trying to feign innocence.

"You took the money Beryl. And then you framed me for it. Maybe you wanted me to get fired, or thrown in jail. That's not how it worked though. Instead Mamoru stormed into my office and after accusing me of stealing the money, he demanded I marry him and give him children. You made your own bed Beryl."

"How?" Beryl asked, and Usagi could see the wheels turning in her head.

"I have friends Beryl. Even if they hadn't figure it out, I saw you watching and Mamoru told me you were the one who brought him the 'proof' that I was stealing. I couldn't clear my name, until now."

"What are you saying?"

"I have proof it wasn't me Beryl. Proof that you stole the money."

"You don't have a thing," Beryl sneered. "Otherwise you would have sent the police already. Stop lying!"

Usagi felt sorry for the other woman. "I asked my friends to wait," she admitted. "I wanted to give you a chance to come clean. To make it right."

"Bullshit!" Beryl screamed, enraged all over again. "You're just trying to trick me. I don't believe you! You stole Mamoru. You knew I liked him, and yet you stole him!"

Usagi shook her head. She was done. She'd tried to give Beryl a chance, but the woman was insane. "Get out of my house."

"You dirty little bitch. This should be my house," Beryl spat. She reached into her purse and pulled out a long knife.

Usagi let out a startled cry and tried to get up. "What the hell are you doing?" she asked, both terrified and enraged.

"I'm going to destroy you and take him for myself."

Having managed to leverage herself up, Usagi spotted her phone. As she reached for it a massive pain swept over her midsection and she screamed. Beryl hadn't even moved, why did she hurt? The pain was unbearable, blinding. White light shot in her eyes and she fell to her knees, trying her best to keep from landing on the babies.

Reaching out her hand to Beryl, she pleaded, "help me."

Instead, Beryl's laughter echoed through the room. "You're gonna die bitch," she whispered. She spun around and walked out. Usagi screamed for her to come back, but a moment later the door slammed.

Less than two feet away from where Usagi lay, her phone sat just over the edge of the carpet. With all her strength she moved forward, crawling on her hands and knees, ignoring the wetness that coated her legs as she strived for the only thing that might save her children.

Her fingers wrapped around the phone and she turned it, then swept the icon up to unlock the screen and pressed the button for contacts. The first name listed was Ami. Ami who was in her residency, training to be a doctor. Ami who had promised to come if she called.

She pressed the green phone icon next to her picture. Her vision was going grey. "Ami," she whispered when her friend answered. "Help me."

"What's wrong Usagi?" Ami asked.

"I think I'm dying," Usagi whispered. "Save… save the babies."

She lay on her side, moving one hand over her swollen waist, staring at the phone next to her head. She could hear Ami talking, but everything was fading. She tried to answer. No words came out. Then the world went dark and Usagi slipped into nothingness.

* * *

Mamoru had been feeling on-edge all morning. Something had seemed wrong to him even before he'd left the house, but he'd had a meeting to attend that he couldn't miss. Now he was driving back home, and a feeling of dread washed over him.

His cell was ringing. Tapping the button on his steering wheel, he answered. "Moshi moshi?"

There was a flurry of sound on the other end of the line, but no one was speaking. It almost sounded as though whoever had called didn't know they had done it. He chanced looking away from the road for a split second. Beryl. Why was she calling him?

He heard the sound of someone rushing up a flight of stairs, then a bang as though a door had slammed against a wall. "Metalia!" It was definitely Beryl's voice. He reached to hang up the phone, not wanting to listen to her private conversation, when her next words made him slam on the brakes in the center of the road. "I think Usagi is dead. I've got to get out of town. That stupid housekeeper was there."

"Did you kill her?" the other person, this Metalia, asked.

"No, but I pulled out a knife. I would have, I think. I don't even know what came over me. I've got to get out of town now. If she survives I can't be here anyway. She knows what I did. Says she has proof I stole the money and framed her."

There was a rustling sound, then Beryl said, "oh shit," and the line disconnected.

Mamoru ignored the beeping of car horns as he pulled away, speeding towards his wife even as he called emergency services.

* * *

Author's Note:  
This chapter is all about Mamoru's changing attitude. I really wanted to highlight how he was falling in love, but wasn't really aware of it. He does little things to make Usagi happy and tries to convince himself over and over that it's all about his babies. He thinks, because of his morals, that he can't trust a thief but is questioning whether what he was told was true. He doesn't even see how his behavior has changed, and I think that's important.

If you've never watched My Fair Lady, you probably won't understand this, but for those of you who have... think about the song Accustomed to Her Face (You can always find it on YouTube). This is sort of how I see Mamoru in this story before he finally realizes the truth, thinking he's just used to her, trying to be angry instead of feeling hurt. He believes if he never lets her in then she can't hurt him, but he's already beginning to let her in, and has started loving her even though he doesn't think he does.

A couple reviewers mentioned being very angry with Mamoru... and I admit, I struggled very much with writing him as I did in the first chapter. I hope you like the little changes. And tell me what you think of the other guys. Are they what you were expecting?

* * *

**Dark Crystal Hospital**  
**Chapter Three**

* * *

Mamoru had no idea exactly how he'd gotten to the hospital. He was a wreck by the time he reached the maternity ward. His hair, which was normally rather neat, if a little windblown, now looked as though someone had tried to tear it out. He was breathless and scared out of his wits. His heart raced and his palms were sweating. His eyes were reddened and watery as he tried to hold back tears, and he could hardly put two words together.

The only two words he could speak, over and over as he made his way through the front reception desk, and then the one in the maternity ward were, "Chiba Usagi."

"This way," a nurse said, and led him deeper into the wing toward a private waiting room. He had a moment to wish they'd taken her to Dark Crystal, where he knew everyone and his name would have gotten him anything he wanted, but he couldn't speak enough to have said anything. "She's in surgery. A doctor will be with you as soon as possible. Wait here."

Ami was already in the waiting room, wringing her hands in the bottom of her shirt. The icy blue scrub top was already wrinkled, but he didn't think she noticed or cared. If she felt nearly as worried as he did, then she probably didn't give a shit about anything but finding out if Usagi was alright.

"Usagi," he whispered when he saw her.

Ami spun to face him. "She called me. Said she was dying. Asked me to save the babies. I tried to ask what was wrong but she passed out. Shock, they said. Blood loss. They don't have enough of her blood type. Transfusion."

Mamoru pulled out his phone and dialed. "Shingo?"

"Mamoru? Is everything okay?"

"No. Usagi. Uh, Usagi's in the hospital. I don't know much yet. She's in surgery. But she's lost a lot of blood, and they don't have enough."

"She's O negative, like me," Shingo said, sounding much calmer than Mamoru felt. "Which hospital?"

"Tokyo Jikei. Maternity."

"I'll be there soon. Just hold on. Stay strong."

The call ended before Mamoru could respond. He turned his attention back to Ami. He didn't know what to do. He was a doctor. Yet, he had never felt more helpless or foolish. He couldn't fix her. He couldn't save her. Someone else was in there trying to save Usagi and their children. He sat heavily in one of the chairs.

"What the hell is wrong with me?" he asked the air.

A gentle hand touched his shoulder and he heard the sound of someone sitting next to him. "You're in love with her Mamoru." Rei's voice was kinder than he'd ever heard it. "You're in love with her and you're terrified to lose her."

"Is that what this is?" he asked. His heart was pounding a mile a minute. His head throbbed and for some reason his face was wet. He reached up and swiped at his face. Tears. The last time he'd cried had been at his parent's funeral. Why was he crying? Was Usagi going to die? And their children with her?

"Yes baka, that's what it is. Took you long enough," Rei snorted. "Now stop your crying. You have to stay strong for Usagi. She's going to freak out when she wakes up. You'll have to be there to hold her hand and tell her everything is alright."

"She's going to wake up," Mamoru whispered.

"That's right. Nothing can keep our Usagi down. Nothing. The kami will protect her and all of us will just sit right here and wait. I bet pretty soon you'll be able to see your babies. That will help."

"No," Mamoru argued.

"What do you mean no." Rei looked shocked.

"I won't go see them until she wakes up. I want it to be together. All of you can see them until she's ready. But she deserves not to be last."

"Good point. You calm now?"

"Maybe?" Mamoru answered, not really sure. Panic was still new to him.

"Chiba-san?"

Mamoru looked up, hoping to see the doctor, but instead it was two officers. The one who had spoken was male and there was a female with him, slightly shorter, though still tall for a woman. She looked to be the tougher of the two, with a small scowl on her face.

"Hai," he said, swiping at his cheeks again.

"You spoke with emergency services and they relayed your information to us. I'm officer Takahashi and this is my partner officer Sato. Can you tell us exactly what you heard on the phone call?" The man had a soothing air about him when he spoke.

"Phone call?" Rei asked.

Mamoru frowned. He'd forgotten to tell them about it. He could see Minako and Makoto to either side of Ami now and wondered when they had arrived. His brain felt like it was firing too slowly. He wanted to know if Usagi was okay. He didn't really care about anything else. When was the doctor coming? He needed to know about his wife and...

"Mamoru, focus," Rei demanded.

"Huh?" He frowned. "Oh. Right." He tugged at his hair to calm himself. "Um the call came in while I was driving home. From Kuro Beryl. Hold on." He pulled out his phone and searched his files. All his calls were recorded automatically. He'd been doing that for years just in case he forgot something or it had something to do with the hospital. "Here," he said, and pressed the button to play the message.

) O (

"Moshi moshi?" That was his voice. He listened to the rustling, the pounding footsteps, the loud bang, and then he heard the talking again.

"Metalia!" There was a short pause with the sound of rustling again. "I think Usagi is dead. I've got to get out of town. That stupid housekeeper was there."

"Did you kill her?" the other person asked.

"No, but I pulled out a knife. I would have, I think. I don't even know what came over me. I've got to get out of town now. If she survives I can't be here anyway. She knows what I did. Says she has proof I stole the money and framed her."

There was a rustling sound, then Beryl said, "oh shit." He didn't hear anything else as the recording ended.

) O (

Everyone in the room stood around looking shocked. Mamoru, having heard it the second time, was wondering if he should say something he hadn't thought about the first time around. "Who is Metalia? What does she have to do with any of this?"

"Let me get this straight," Officer Sato said, having taken the phone. "This Beryl framed Usagi. When?"

"Months ago," Mamoru admitted. "At first I thought she'd really stolen the money, but I told her I would replace it and forgive her if she married me."

Officer Sato's brow rose and Mamoru realized he'd just admitted to covering up a crime. Was that illegal? If Usagi wasn't actually the one who committed the crime and it was technically his money did it still count? He had no idea and at this point didn't care, so long as Usagi was alright.

"When did she learn it was Beryl?" Officer Takahashi asked, looking slightly annoyed now.

"Just over a week ago," Ami said. "I did some um... unauthorized... digging in the hospital records. We asked her to call the police but she wanted to give Beryl a chance to come clean on her own. She was hoping Mamoru would forgive her and she could have a fresh start. Um, here. I have Usagi's phone. Beryl has been sending her really bad angry messages for months. This morning Usagi sent one asking to talk after the babies were born. She'd never responded before. I think maybe that's what set Beryl off."

Mamoru was shocked. He turned to Ami. "She's been sending her angry messages?"

"I didn't know either," Ami said. "I got to the house just as she was being loaded into the ambulance and I found the phone and grabbed it. It was still open, and I got curious." She was blushing now. "I hope I didn't do anything wrong."

A cough came from the doorway. Mamoru turned to find Kunzite and the others standing there. "Sorry, but we also have evidence against Beryl. Zoicite got suspicious a few weeks ago and started watching her. We don't really know if it was legal or not, but we're willing to take the consequences if it will help Usagi."

Officer Takahashi looked like he was about to fall over. "I've got several people telling me they committed crimes to help someone who didn't commit a crime," he said. "This is not an ordinary case."

"Oh hush," the female officer said. "They were trying to help someone they love. I'll bet you dozens of others have done the same and just not told us. Now let me see if I have the facts straight. Beryl stole money but framed Usagi. Mamoru convinced Usagi to marry him and replaced the money without reporting the crime. Ami hacked into the hospital files to find out the truth, and you four started stalking this Beryl person. Is that all?"

"Uh. It wasn't stalking. It was a surveillance video. In her office." Zoicite blushed.

"Oh, because that makes it better," Officer Takahashi muttered. "Seriously when are people going to learn to call us?"

"Alright. We can look into this and handle the rest of it later. For now just wait for your friend, but none of you had better leave town, just in case. We should be able to avoid charges, but I can't promise anything. And tell your wife we'd like to talk to her when she is feeling better."

"Okay," Mamoru said, feeling like he was a pinball in a machine. Everything was crazy, spinning around and around. He didn't know which way was up anymore. He didn't even know if Usagi and the babies were alright, and here he was promising to tell her the officers would come and speak with her.

Why? In the long run, what did it matter? Even if Usagi was okay, he had to find a way to make her forgive him. And what if she wasn't okay? What if he never got to tell her he loved her?

After the officers left silence descended on the group. No one spoke. Rei stayed at his side and he had the feeling she was taking as much comfort from being his rock as she was giving. Some people were like that. It was easier to take care of someone else than to face it yourself.

It felt like he was falling down a long, dark hole, and until he knew Usagi was alright he would never see the light again. Rei's story came back to him. How her father had never been the same. At this moment, he could understand. If he lost Usagi and their children he wasn't sure he could survive the pain.

"Chiba-san," a soft voice called. He looked up and saw a woman who looked very much like Ami standing next to him. He leapt out of his chair and stared at her wide-eyed. When she realized he wasn't going to speak, she started. "Your babies are both fine. There was some concern about your son for a little while, but we did a caesarian and got to them both quickly. He didn't lose any oxygen so there is no brain damage."

"Usagi?" he asked.

"She had a tougher time of it. We had a difficult time stopping the bleeding and she did need a transfusion. Thankfully her brother appeared about twenty minutes ago and demanded to give blood. We didn't have to do a hysterectomy, which I know was a worry she had. Usagi can still have children. She's alright, but it will probably be a bit before she wakes up."

Mamoru didn't notice he was falling until his butt hit the floor. "Oh thank kami," he heard Rei whisper. He couldn't think. All he could do was feel. Usagi was alright. And he knew he loved her. Now he could tell her.

"Are you alright Chiba-san?"

"Hai," he said, looking up. "Can I see her?"

The doctor smiled. "Yes. She's in recovery right now, and it will be a bit before she wakes, but you can sit with her until then. I'll have someone come and get you in just a few minutes. Unless you'd like to check on the babies first."

"Rei and the others will check on them. I need Usagi." Mamoru wasn't sure where that had come from. It wasn't what he'd intended to say. But it was pure truth. He needed his wife.

* * *

Shingo rushed out of his office in a blind panic as soon as he'd disconnected the call. "Who can drive fast?" he yelled out, not caring if he was interrupting phone calls or anything else.

"I can," an intern called. She had short dark hair, black fading into purple. "Is it your sister?"

"Hai."

"Which hospital?"

"Tokyo Jikei," Shingo answered, already running towards the elevators. "How fast can you get me there?"

"Seven minutes," the girl answered. "But you'll have to hold on tight." She snatched a helmet off her desk and came running.

"A motorcycle?" he asked.

"Hai," she answered as they entered the elevator. "Don't worry. I was taken in by Ten'ou Haruka when I ran away from home in my teens. She's a race car driver. She also races motorcycles. Taught me everything she knows. What's got you so worried?"

"My sister is losing a lot of blood." Shingo bit his lip, trying to keep himself calm.

"We'll get you there."

A moment later the elevator doors opened and they were in the underground garage. The girl already had her helmet on and reached into the back of the bike for another, putting it on his head and patting it down so it sat right. Then she climbed on and he threw his leg over and sat on the end of the seat.

"Scoot forward and hold on tight. When I turn the bike you lean very slightly into the turn. Just let my body tell you what to do. If I lean, you lean, got it?"

"Got it," Shingo said, obeying her immediately.

The bike roared to life and the girl pulled out. Shingo realized he couldn't remember her name. She was very new and he'd only spoken to her one time, in the break room. "What's your name again?" he asked. "My mind isn't working right."

"Tomoe Hotaru," she said. "Get ready."

They pulled out of the parking garage and into traffic. There was no way to speak as she wove in, out, and around other cars and busses. She took a shortcut through several alleys, and the next thing he knew they were both running into the hospital. He raced to the desk at reception.

"My sister," he panted. "My sister is in surgery. Lost a lot of blood. Not enough O negative. I'm O negative."

There was a flurry of activity then. A nurse came and grabbed him and Hotaru followed, talking quietly with the woman as they were led to an elevator. A moment later he was laying on a blue table with a rather firm pad and a needle in his arm. Hotaru sat and talked to him the entire time, but he didn't really hear anything through the blood pounding in his head. When he finally calmed he looked over at her.

"I'm sorry," he said. "I'm being rude."

"No you aren't. If it was Haruka or Michiru and I could help them I think I would be the same way. You just get it done and think about it later. Are you alright? It looked like they took a lot of blood."

"I'm fine."

"Here," said the nurse, coming back. "Drink this orange juice and have a protein bar and then you can go to the waiting room with the others."

"Arigato," he bowed his head in thanks.

"You did a brave thing," the nurse said.

"Not compared to Usagi," he murmured. "I'd do anything for her."

"That's good," the nurse said. "She's going to need a lot of help in the coming weeks. I was just talking to another nurse. She's out of surgery now. Her husband should be in to see her in a minute. He's a wreck."

"Mamoru?" Shingo asked. "Where is he now?"

"Still in the waiting room I think. Though Doctor Mizuno is probably just finishing up with him. Why don't you two head on down there."

"Thank you again," Hotaru said, then wrapped an arm around his waist and led him out of the room. She guided him down a hallway. Shingo didn't pay much attention until she led him into a room where the girls, Motoki, and Mamoru were waiting with the four men he'd met at the party. At the moment he couldn't even remember their names. He could hardly remember his own.

"Shingo!" Mamoru called. He rushed over and helped Hotaru lead him to a chair. He still hadn't touched the orange juice or protein bar. He'd forgotten he even had them. "You look pale."

"They took a lot of blood. I didn't realize it was so much." Hotaru looked worried.

"The body can replenish it rather quickly," Umino said from the doorway. He and Naru came into the room with their kids both sleeping in a stroller. "How is she?"

"She made it through the surgery. Shingo gave her blood. I guess she's doing better. The doctor said I could see her in a few minutes. They're taking her to recovery now." Mamoru looked positively wild. His hair was a mess, his tie was undone, and he looked as though he'd been crying.

Shingo was glad to see it. It meant he'd realized he loved Usagi, and that was a good thing.

"How about what she was worrying over. The hysterectomy thing?" Naru asked.

"No hysterectomy. They were able to stop the bleeding," Ami put in. "She'll be happy. I know she wants more kids."

"More?" Mamoru asked. "I don't want her hurt. What if it happens again?"

"It's rare when it's trauma related," Umino told him. "She's young, doesn't have diabetes, doesn't do drugs. I think it will be okay."

Mamoru looked unconvinced and Shingo silently agreed with him, but he'd known his sister long enough to realize she would get her way no matter what anyone thought. She'd been put on the earth to mother people. She'd done it since he was born and had helped everyone around her all her life.

"Chiba-san, if you follow me you can go see your wife now. She isn't awake yet and I can't tell you how long it will take, but you can be there with her when she does."

"Hai," Mamoru said. He looked at Rei, who nodded, and then he followed her out.

"What was that about?" Umino asked.

"He realized he's in love with her. I've never seen anyone so afraid before." Rei shuddered. "I've never felt so afraid before, and that's saying something."

Hotaru took the orange juice, opened it, and put it back in Shingo's hand. "Drink," she ordered. Smiling at her, he took a sip, and then another. It did help him not feel quite as dizzy and weak.

"Everyone, I'd like to introduce you to Tomae Hotaru. She's an intern at the paper and got me here faster than I thought possible."

Hotaru blushed. "I told you. Haruka taught me everything she knows."

"Wait. Wait just a minute." Jadeite stepped forward. "Ten'ou Haruka? As in the race car driver?"

Hotaru giggled. "That's the one."

Shingo couldn't help staring at the beautiful girl. She appeared to be around his own age. He wondered why she had run away and been taken in by the race car driver. And he wondered a lot of other things about her as well. She seemed good in a crisis. He wanted to know everything about her.

"So how are the babies?" Naru asked, breaking his train of thought.

"Doing well. They're in the nursery. I was going to go and see them soon," Rei said. "Mamoru refused to see them until Usagi could. Said it would be unfair if she saw them last, but he wanted us to check on them."

"Holy shit," Shingo muttered, "I'm an uncle."

* * *

Mamoru sat, his head in his hands, at the side of the hospital bed. Usagi was still out of it from the surgery, and he didn't know what to do. He loved her. How had he missed something so important? Why was he such a bloody fool?

Waiting for her to wake up was driving him insane. He looked over to the pile of things Rei had brought and saw her little pink laptop sticking out. Maybe he could order her some flowers online. The ones they had in the hospital gift shop were rather pathetic and wilted. He would order her a rose for every day they had been together. It occured to him, he didn't even know how long they'd been together.

"Pathetic Mamoru," he muttered. Still, he could order her at least two dozen.

Decided, he pulled out the laptop and opened the lid. It wasn't password protected, though he could have guessed if it was. Usagi loved bunnies, milkshakes, and chocolate. And she was obsessed with the number nine. He snorted. He was too stupid to even realize how much he already knew about her.

When he looked at the screen, Mamoru noticed a file sitting open on a word document. Wishing she would open her eyes and talk, Mamoru began to read, thinking he could at least learn a little more about her. The document was long, but he only focused on the last entry, which stopped abruptly, the cursor blinking. She must have been in the middle of writing it when Beryl had shown up.

_Dear Diary,_

_I only have eleven days to go. I am so happy. That means the babies should be fine if I can get through one more week. One more week of this hell, trapped alone in this bed. One more week wondering what they will look like. Will they have his gorgeous eyes and my blonde hair? I can't even begin to say how much I already love them. I'm sure Mamoru will too, even if he can't love me._

_I wish he would see me, who I really am. I wish he could see past the lie, and realize there is someone who already loves him very much. Someone who would do anything for him. I wish my heart wasn't breaking. Why did this happen? Will he ever learn who I am?_

_Rei says he's coming around, but Rei doesn't live here. Rei doesn't see how his eyes don't look into mine. She doesn't see how his gaze is only for his children. I think he might love them already. But he won't ever love me. I die a little, knowing that._

_The thing is, I feel like if I could just get Beryl to admit what she did, I could -_

Mamoru blinked. The document ended there, but it was enough. The revelations were tearing at him. Not only was Usagi in love with him, but she had been for months. She also already knew who had set her up, but had waited so Beryl would have a chance even though the other woman had been cruel to her. Rage filled him. He wanted to find Beryl and tear her to pieces. He closed the laptop and laid it on the table, standing up to pace. He always thought better when he paced.

He punched the wall. Why hadn't he seen the signs? Usagi would drop everything at a moment's notice for him and he just saw her as property. He wanted to tear his hair out and scream from the rooftops all at once. None of what he had done was right or fair. He was hardly more than a monster. How she had ever learned to love him was beyond his understanding. Shaking his sore fist, he leaned his head next to the brand-new hole in the wall, trying to hold back tears. He hadn't cried since his parent's funeral until today, that he could remember, but now he wanted to cry again.

Usagi made a sound and Mamoru turned in a blind panic. She moaned in her sleep. Not sure what else to do, he raced to her side, taking the hand that didn't have an IV, and holding it while he searched for the call button. He couldn't bear the thought that she was in pain.

As he grasped and kissed her hand he mentally promised that his Usako would get just as much attention as their babies. He had the rest of their life to make it up to her, and he would start by telling her he loved her. He would make sure she was never lonely again. She needed her friends just as much as she needed him. And he would try, very hard, not to act so bossy and hostile.

A nurse finally came into the room. Mamoru wanted to scream at her for taking so long, but he just stared at her for several seconds. "I think she's waking up," he explained. "I didn't know what to do."

"We'll see how she feels and decide from there," the nurse said, smiling. She moved to the monitor, a clipboard in her hand, and started taking notes, pressing a button on a machine that automatically inflated the blood-pressure cuff attached to her arm.

"Mamo-chan?" Usagi managed to whimper. Shocked at the pet name she had mumbled, Mamoru bent forward and kissed the hand he was holding. He looked at her face. Her eyes opened several times, but she couldn't seem to keep them open.

"I'm here Usako." He kissed the back of her hand again. "You're alright. You had to have surgery."

"The babies?" she whispered.

"Both of them are fine. You got them through it. They're in better condition than you are. You lost too much blood." He choked on a sob, then pulled himself together and tried to smile at her.

Her eyes opened again. "Are you okay?" she asked. "You sound upset Mamoru." His heart clenched. She'd called him Mamo-chan before she'd woken fully. He wondered how long she'd been calling him that in her head for it to have slipped out. He wanted to hear it again.

"I'm alright Usako," he said, kissing her hand again. He could do that a million times a day if she would just look at him with those beautiful blue eyes.

"I hurt," she whimpered.

"I know baby, I know. You'll be okay Usako. Your brother's here. Out in the waiting room with the others now. He had to give you some blood. You lost so much and I thought…" His voice trailed off as it hit him once again that he could have lost her. "You're okay. That's what matters." Mamoru began to cry. "I almost lost you," he whispered.

"But the babies are okay," Usagi said softly, trying to lift her other hand to pat him on the head.

Mamoru shook his head wildly. She didn't get it. "But I almost lost _you_ Usako. Before I even knew…" Again he trailed off, not sure how to explain it. His feelings for her weren't really new, but he hadn't realized what they were. And she thought he hated her, despised her. How could he convince her of the truth?

"Usako?" she asked, looking adorably confused.

"Hai," he whispered. "My little bunny. I don't… I can't…" He shook his head in frustration. How did a person tell someone they loved them? He didn't know. So, going on instinct, he blurted it out. "I love you. I've been a baka, but Usako, I love you. I just… I can't lose you, and I almost did. None of it makes any sense to me. I've never been in love before. I've never needed anyone before. And I… I don't want to lose you."

The nurse was staring at them, but Mamoru didn't care. She could announce it to the whole damned hospital if she wanted. Chiba Mamoru was in love with his wife, and he would never, ever let her down again.

"Mamoru? I don't understand."

He sighed, staring into her eyes. "I. Love. You." He made sure to speak slowly, knowing she was coming out of anesthesia and had just had surgery. "I love you. I love you!"

"Mamo-chan?"

"Yes Usako?"

"I love you too."

Mamoru laughed. "I know."

"How?" Usagi's brows drew together.

"I was going to order you flowers, but when I opened your laptop your diary was open. I only read the last entry," he added when it looked like she might yell at him. "You said you loved me, but you thought I hated you. I never hated you. Although, I admit I didn't like you as a person much in the beginning. But that's because I wasn't looking. If I'd bothered to learn anything about you I would have known the truth, but now… I see you Usako. I really see you."

"This is a lot to take," Usagi said. "Are you sure it's not just relief?"

"Relief?"

"I don't know. Like, guilt, maybe?"

"Are you serious?" he asked. She nodded and he noticed tears falling. He stood up and leaned over her, kissing them away. "It isn't relief. I had to be yelled at by Rei to even realize I was in love, but it's definitely love."

"Let me get this straight," the nurse said, popping into the conversation as though she had the right. "You didn't know you loved your wife until someone else told you? Isn't that… odd?"

Usagi giggled, then moaned and clutched her stomach. "Ow."

Mamoru realized he was blushing. "Um, yes?"

"Hmph," the woman tossed her head and glared at him. Then she turned a smile on Usagi. "How are you feeling?"

"My belly hurts," Usagi said, her voice soft. "But, I want to see the babies. They're okay aren't they?"

"They are just fine little one," the nurse said. "You're the one we were worried about. Technically they're a bit premature, but it's actually a bit normal for twins. Your daughter had a perfect apgar score, and your son was close. His heartbeat was a little slow at first, but we've checked him again and it's within the normal range now."

"Can we see them?" Mamoru asked. Now that he could see for himself that Usagi was alright, he desperately wanted to meet his children, and he knew she did as well.

"I'll have them wheeled in here in just a minute. Remember you can only have two visitors except daddy here at a time." She moved over and lifted the head of the bed very slowly, checking to make sure Usagi was comfortable as she did so. "The nurse will bring them soon."

The nurse walked out of the room, and Mamoru stared after her in shock. Daddy. He was a daddy. Would he be any good at it? He looked at Usagi who was grinning at him. "She called me their daddy," he whispered.

"I know, surreal isn't it?"

"You're a mommy," he reminded her.

Usagi giggled. "I am. How weird is that. Yesterday we were just people. Now we're mommy and daddy."

"I like it," Mamoru declared, then leaned over the railing and kissed her for all he was worth.

A clearing throat brought them back to the present as a different nurse wheeled in a bassinet with both their babies inside. One was wrapped in a tiny pink blanket and the other a blue one. They had little hats on their heads and were swaddled tight. Mamoru felt tears in his eyes as he looked.

"Those are our babies," he said.

The nurse picked the little boy up first and very carefully placed him in Usagi's arms. "This is your son," she said. Then she took the little girl and brought her to Mamoru, showing him how to support her head. "This is your daughter."

Mamoru stared down at the perfect, tiny little face. Then he looked at his wife before staring at his daughter again. "She's just a chibi little Usagi," he said. "Blonde hair and everything." He noticed a little tuft of it sticking out of the tiny cap, though there was a hint of pink in it and he wondered if it would change over time. "She looks just like you."

Usagi was laughing and crying at the same time. "He's a perfect replica of you Mamoru. Black hair, although he has purple highlights, and his face is like a younger version of yours." Mamoru peered down at the little blue bundle and saw she was right. His son was a carbon copy of him when he'd been a baby. "He's a chibi Mamoru."

Mamoru stared at Usagi for a long moment. He couldn't hold back his tears and didn't care if she, or anyone else, saw. "I love you," he said simply. "I don't deserve you. Not for a minute, but I love you."

"I love you too Mamo-chan."

* * *

Usagi was in a lot of pain. Even though the doctors had given her medication through her IV right after the surgery she could feel a strange burning and her insides didn't feel quite the same as they had before. It was all rather new and strange. She was sitting up in the bed with Mamoru's arm behind her, supporting her a bit as she still felt a little groggy.

She'd just made her first attempt at nursing the babies. It hadn't gone as well as she'd expected and she was feeling rather depressed. Her daughter had taken right to the breast with no problems, but a few minutes later had begun to cry. Apparently women who had C-sections were rather slower to produce milk. Her son had a much more difficult time even taking the nipple into his mouth, but eventually, with the help of the nurse and a lactation consultant, he had been able to have his first meal.

Now, a few minutes after covering back up, her brother was in the room with her, and a girl she had never met before had followed him in, watching him like a hawk. Apparently he had been fine for a while after giving blood, but when he'd gotten up to go see the babies he had fallen. Now the girl, Hotaru, was keeping an eye on him and Usagi was pretty certain she liked him. It made her giggle and she was trying to hide that from her over-awed brother.

"What are you going to name them?" Shingo asked. He was sitting in the visitor's chair, leaning back slightly, a baby in each arm. He looked a bit overwhelmed.

"We never really talked about it," Mamoru said. "Usagi had this worry that if we chose names before seeing them they wouldn't fit, so we decided we would give it time and see what their personalities were."

"What are you thinking now?" Shingo asked.

Mamoru chuckled. "I almost want to name our daughter Usagi, after her mother. She looks just like her and Usako suffered to much to bring her into the world. Doesn't she look like a little Chibi-Usa?"

Shingo laughed, "you're right, she does. The boy looks exactly like you though. Except, what's up with the hair."

"You noticed?" Usagi asked. "I thought it was just me. At first I thought their hair was a match for ours, but I see pink and purple more and more."

Mamoru shrugged, moving her slightly, "I don't know. I like it though. It gives them their own unique flare."

"I wonder if our other kids will have strange hair," Usagi murmured.

"Other kids?" Mamoru questioned. "I don't want you to be so hurt ever again."

"It's not always like this baka," she teased. "This was a weird situation."

"Fine," he muttered, "but if you get pregnant again you can't go in a car."

Usagi just rolled her eyes. It would take a while for him to get used to loving someone. She assumed the panic would go away over time.

"What if you named them Usagi and Mamoru, but just called them Chibi-Usa and Chibi-Mamo for now?" Shingo suggested.

"I like it," Mamoru whispered in her ear. "She loves to eat, just like her mom, and he's fussy just like his dad. What do you say?"

Usagi felt like it was a huge decision. She wasn't sure, but the way she was feeling she didn't know if she could make any decisions. "Okay, but I get to name the next one," she whispered.

Chuckling again, Mamoru nodded. "Fine by me. You did all the work."

"Well, the doctors did," Usagi corrected. "I am sort of sad I missed their actual birth. It was so different than what we were told. I was out before I even got here."

"Can I be honest?" Mamoru asked.

Usagi shrugged, looking up at him.

He grimaced. "I was terrified I would accidentally see your intestines. I thought if I did I might get sick and ruin everything."

Shingo burst out laughing, which startled both babies awake. Usagi couldn't help wanting to hold them again. She loved their little faces. Chibi-Usa had eyes that were blue fading into a reddish pink, and Chibi-Mamo a blue fading into deep purple.

* * *

The next three days passed in a blur for Mamoru and Usagi. There were no further complications for Usagi, who was grateful. No infections formed, she was able to walk a little and to shower, which made her feel much better. Her milk had come in and Chibi-Mamo had finally gained an ounce. Chibi-Usa, who was a little guzzler, had gained three.

They were inundated by visitors morning, noon, and night. From the moment visiting hours began until the second they ended at least one of their friends was there. Usagi started noticing a trend and giggled when she pointed it out to Mamoru. "The guys are falling in love with my friends," she whispered, on the third morning, watching Kunzite and Minako stare at the twins in their bassinet. Kunzite had simply followed Minako into the room, and whenever his eyes caught on her his face softened.

"You might be right," Mamoru told her. "I'm certain Rei and Jadeite are together now."

"They got together the night of the party," Usagi told him, trying not to be overheard. "He's been staying with her at the Jinja ever since."

Mamoru, who had not been aware of that, stared at her in shock. "Really?"

Usagi giggled. "Really. Rei knows what she wants, and she wants him. And he seems to think they should get married. She's been teasing him about it, making him beg her." She wiggled her eyebrows.

"I did not need to know that," Mamoru said, feeling a bit strange about it.

"But it's so much fun. Makoto said Nephrite has been showing up at the bakery several times a week. He thinks she's adorable, which has Makoto going insane over him. No one ever thought she was adorable before. He can pick her right up like it's nothing."

"What about Ami and Zo?" Mamoru asked, curious in spite of himself.

"Ami said they were 'collaborating' on a project," Usagi told him with a giggle. "In Ami's world that's code for sex."

"I told them to stay away from the girls," Mamoru said with a frown.

Usagi laughed outright. "Mamo-chan, you should know, when you tell someone they can't have something they only want it more. Besides, I think these are the exact guys my friends were waiting for."

"Waiting for?" Mamoru asked. "Usako, you sound like you think they're soulmates."

She pouted. "Of course they are, and so are we, so there." She stuck her tongue out at him.

Mamoru knew his life would never be boring again. He couldn't get enough of the new Usagi. The one he had missed out on all along. Now that she knew he loved her she had blossomed. All the quirks her friends had mentioned coming right out in her. To his mind, she could do no wrong. Except when she tried to do too much and hurt herself. But he would teach her, eventually, that she could rely on him.

Usagi was thrilled with the much more open Mamoru. He was constantly devoted to her, an ever present shadow of safety and comfort. He smiled now, actually smiled, and once he had laughed a loud boisterous laugh that made her turn to putty. His eyes sparkled when he looked at her, and she felt his love like a physical thing. All those months of pain and sorrow were worth it now that she had so much happiness.

Minako's phone beeped with an incoming message and she gasped, turning to Usagi. "Turn on the news."

A moment later they were all staring at the screen in shock as they watched Beryl and an older woman being led into the police station in handcuffs. Usagi turned up the volume.

"... Kuro Beryl had actually pulled out a knife against the woman who was pregnant. The recording captured her words and was later given to the police by her husband, who is none other than Chiba Mamoru. Chiba owns forty-eight percent of the hospital Kuro worked for and it was his wife the woman tried to frame for the theft. Several charges have been brought against her by the police who say..."

Usagi muted the television and turned to Mamoru. "I guess that means it's over," she whispered. She'd spoken to the officers the day before and they'd assured her no charges would be brought against Mamoru or any of the others, but at that point Beryl had still been on the run.

"Not quite," Kunzite said. "I'm sure all of us will have to testify. Thankfully she's caught and behind bars, but we can't guarantee she will stay that way."

"So did we ever learn anything about this Metalia person?" Mamoru asked. "I've been curious since I heard the call but the officers had never heard of her."

Minako, who had been typing furiously on her phone, looked up. "She's Beryl's mother-in-law. Her husband died a few months after they were married. Not much else about her online according to Ami."

Usagi found she didn't care very much. She had her husband, her children, and her friends. That was what mattered in the long run.

* * *

Mamoru found his wife in the nursery, staring at their sleeping babies. A month had passed since they'd all been released from the hospital, and though they were often tired and slightly overwhelmed Mamoru wouldn't have changed a moment. Friends and family had been dropping in to help them almost constantly. Gifts of yen and small presents for the children and Usagi had been arriving almost since the moment they'd come home, and Usagi had certainly blossomed as a mother.

One of his favorite things to do was to lay next to her in the bed while she nursed their children. She had a special pillow that wrapped around her belly and she would lay the babies on it and nurse them both at the same time. Usagi often talked to them through their meal, and sometimes would sing a familiar sounding lullaby under her breath. She was gorgeous to him, and he could tell what her friends had said about her being put on the earth to become a mother.

But his Usagi had other dreams as well. Dreams he wanted to help her meet. Drawing her into his arms he kissed her temple before gently leading her out of the room. "I wanted to talk to you," he said softly as they climbed back into bed.

"What about?" Usagi asked, covering a yawn with her hand.

"Did you read this?" he asked, pulling out an old editorial her brother had written.

Usagi nodded. "I did. It was the sweetest thing. I could tell he was reaching out to me, but I was afraid to get any of them in trouble."

"Shingo tells me you've always wanted to be a famous writer."

Nodding, Usagi leaned against him. "It was one of my fondest dreams when I was young."

"He doesn't want you to give up that dream Usako. And neither do I."

She shrugged. "I don't have time right now. The babies are so young and they need me."

Mamoru knew that, and he also knew eventually they would grow up. He wasn't going to pressure her, but he wanted her to be happy, and if writing made her happy, then he wanted her to write. He smiled down at her. She looked so beautiful and peaceful in his arms.

"I was thinking that eventually you could take some courses, if you wanted. But in the meantime, I want you to think about writing. Maybe you can start simple, like writing about the babies and work your way into doing what you really want."

"It's a good idea," she said softly. "Maybe I could even write a blog about twins."

"Anything you want. But I have another thing I wanted to ask you about." Mamoru fidgeted a little. He was much more nervous about this question.

"What is it?" Usagi asked, turning her head to look up at him, her cerulean eyes wide.

"Will you marry me again?" he asked, then rushed on before she could answer. "Rei and the others told me all about your dream wedding, and it just sounds so perfect and just... you. And this time we would both be in love so it would mean a lot more. Grandfather Hino said he would help and everyone else thinks its a great idea and I just want to make you happy. If you could..."

Usagi put a hand over his mouth and cut off his babbling. "Mamo-chan, I would love to do that with you."

"Oh thank the kami," he whispered. Then he reached for something in his nightstand. It took a little maneuvering to open the box with one arm wrapped behind her, but open it he did. "I sort of thought this would be a better ring for you," he said. "If you don't want it, I can take it back, but if you do the one you already have will slide right inside it."

The ring inside the box was braided silver and gold in two parts with a slight space between. On one side was a single red rose and on the other a moonstone cut to look like the crescent moon. He'd had them made for her because of the stories she told the twins. Ones with a prince who grew roses for his love, who was a princess on the moon.

"It's perfect," Usagi whispered, then moved to kiss him. He dearly wished the doctor had already given them the okay to do more, but just holding her in his arms was special enough.

She slid her ring off her finger and handed it to him. After he slid it between the other pieces he gently put it back on her finger. "I love you Usako," he said, kissing her again.

"I love you Mamo-chan," she answered back.

They snuggled together, just holding on, and Mamoru thought he had never been happier or more grateful in his life. He had made so many mistakes with her, but Usagi's kind and forgiving nature and her wonderful open heart had made everything better. She had expanded his world and he could never go back to the lonely, miserable, often rude man he had once been. She was his miracle and he was never letting go.

* * *

**Original Comments:**

* * *

Aya Faulkner chapter 3 . Apr 29  
Such a beautiful ending. I loved it. Thank you for sharing this.

Aya Faulkner chapter 1 . Apr 29  
I knew I would love this! And I'm not a big fan of angst. So for me to say I'm loving this is a big deal. I had to force myself to stop reading and make food and this is Ramadan! It made me forget fasting!

karseneau1 chapter 3 . Apr 28  
That was awfully delightful done. A great story

Unknown867 chapter 3 . Feb 4  
I finally got to finish reading this and omg girl you didn't disappoint! Thank you for blessing us with this story. Absolutely beautiful ending. Better than I imagined.

karseneau1 chapter 2 . Feb 3  
I am starting to see the appeal of this story

smoon4409 chapter 3 . Feb 3  
It was a wonderful story!

Guest chapter 3 . Feb 2  
I like it alot! I hope you decide to do an epilogue!

OrientalDanceGirl chapter 3 . Feb 2  
Please write an epilogue, where the wedding is and their wedding night is!

MirrorFlower and DarkWind chapter 3 . Feb 2  
Great chapter i loved it. Great ending to the story

TropicalRemix chapter 3 . Feb 1  
nice story.

sabina21 chapter 3 . Feb 1  
good chapter about Mamoru usagi and her friends and that usagi and her babies are all right and Mamoru was able to tell usagi that he is in love with her update soon

smoon4409 chapter 2 . Feb 1  
I really liked this chapter, I liked Mamoru alot better, and the other guys were great. Looking forward to next chapter.

Moonsessed chapter 2 . Feb 1  
I am so excited for the next chapter thank you for the great story!

Guest chapter 2 . Jan 31  
I liked it! to me it just seems to me he just doesn't want to admit to his feelings for her! but then again I wouldn't know because I haven't had a boyfriend in over 10 years

SaturnnFoxx chapter 2 . Jan 31  
I love when you start branching out. You have some of the most refreshing ideas in this fandom and your experiments are always an intriguing read.

karseneau1 chapter 2 . Jan 31  
very interesting, we'll done. I like the dynamics between the men.

DixonLover87 chapter 2 . Jan 31  
This story is so good. I love how the characters are changing and developing. I'm glad that even though we don't see much of their relationship prior to this chapter that you included enough backdrop for us the understand how Usagi could have fallen for him. Also, Mamoru is fighting his feelings so hard! No matter what he will always be a douche in one way or Another. My favorite story from you by far. Can't wait for the next chapter.

Guest chapter 2 . Jan 31  
I like more

TropicalRemix chapter 2 . Jan 31  
is Metalia beryl's mother? i hope usagi is ok. did someone call mamoru and tell him usagi had been stabbed?

sabina21 chapter 2 . Jan 31  
good chapter what is going to happen now that Mamoru nos that usagi was not the one who stole the money from Mamoru and that it was beryl and what is going to happen to usagi and her babies will Mamoru and Ami get to usagi on time to save her and her babies and what is going to happen with Mamoru now that he has started to realise that he is in love with usagi  
what is going to happen now that Mamoru herd from beryl that she was the one who stole the money and that she thinks she killed usagi and that she is skipping town because usagi friends have proof about what she did update soon

MirrorFlower and DarkWind chapter 2 . Jan 31  
This was great very lovely i love how her friends come for her and her own brother threatens him just great. Cannot wait for the next chaptet

SerenityxEndymion chapter 2 . Jan 31  
Thank you for updating. I was skeptical about liking this story. Now I hope Mamoru will see Usagi is innocent. And please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, don't kill Usagi or her babies off. Let their attack be what fuels Mamoru's anger and he goes after Beryl. (Like he calls the police, shouts and files seriously lawsuits against her for what she did is what I mean ((Normally I dislike violence done on women but in this case have him give Beryl a slap in the face)) and have him file a restraining order on her too.) And I hope Mamoru's finally gets his head out of the clouds and realizes he loves Usagi.

OrientalDanceGirl chapter 1 . Jan 31  
Mamoru is such an idiot to believe Beryl! I hope Usagi will show the picture to him, but i think she wil try to run away. She should have the guts to confront him about it!

MirrorFlower and DarkWind chapter 1 . Jan 30  
Ohh I hope her friends kick beryles ass and him...oh how I want to hurt him. Damn it. I hope you update soon

Mysticgrnbutterfly chapter 1 . Jan 30  
I doubt he's cheating with Mrs Bitch I mean Beryl.  
And i wanna know what kind of proof that female gave him on Usagi.  
Does Mamoru truly trust Beryl so much he doesn't even try to dig deeper, he should ask the question  
What makes a good girl like Usagi steal?  
Im glad her friends and family have figured out who Usa is with and know something is definitely off

smoon4409 chapter 1 . Jan 30  
I like the story, but I already hoped Beryl gets what's coming to her. Looking forward to next chapter!

karseneau1 chapter 1 . Jan 30  
ok, this is a different story from you. To be honest I am still on the fence about liking it

Unknown867 chapter 1 . Jan 30  
So I wasn't sure if I'd like the story because while I love an asshole Mamoru, I don't like a blackmailing one, but you've got me hooked. DAMMIT! Chapter 2 tomorrow?

TropicalRemix chapter 1 . Jan 30  
i bet beryl is the one who is stealing money from the hospital and put usagi's name on it. I hope mamoru isn't cheating on usagi. Is he going to find out at some point that usagi didn't steal the money? i hope he does.

sabina21 chapter 1 . Jan 30  
good chapter what is going to happen now that usagi friends are looking for her and have found out that she is married to Mamoru and what is going to happen now that usagi has got a picture of beryl and Mamoru together is Mamoru cheating on usagi with beryl and will Mamoru find out what beryl has been doing and what is going to happen to usagi and the twins if Mamoru is cheating on usagi with beryl update soon


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